Classic Song 43 - Paganini "Caprice No. 24"

Let's talk about classic music from 

a turn-of-the-century composer.

And by 'turn of the century', my little pretties, 

I mean the turn of the nineteenth century. 

The composer? Why, none other than Niccolo 

Paganini, who was certainly a proto-prog 

musician, if there ever was one. 

His astonishing violin virtuosity notwithstanding, 

he lived a life that we would today describe 

as that of a rock star, overindulging in sex, 

alcohol, drugs and serious, classical 

composition and concerts.

Before he descended into personal chaos and 

financial ruin, he graced the world with original 

music that was so far ahead of its time, many 

thought his more challenging works 

to be near-musical heresy.

Caprice No. 24 is the final caprice of his 

24 Caprices, and is one of the most famously 

difficult pieces ever written for violin soloists,

featuring a main theme, eleven astounding 

theme variations and a brief finale.

Performed by the great Jascha Heifetz 

(whose grandson is Danny Heifetz, 

drummer for Dieselhed and most 

notably, Mr. Bungle), here's a 

live performance, filmed in 

beautiful black and white,

following a picture, taken while 

I recorded with members of the 

Toronto Symphony Orchestra 

and other elite TO musicians.

I'm just a lucky guy.

Mozz the Elder

www.vapormusic.com

Classic Song 42 - Blonde Redhead "A Cure"

Let's talk about classic music from the turn of the century.

And by that, brave warriors, I mean the year 2000.

We'd all survived the runup to, and letdown from, 

the Y2K silliness, and were back to consuming 

way too much, way too often, with way too 

few concerns for way too many.

In other words, life was GREAT.

The fave album at the Fen-by household 

was Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication.

I was constantly scouring music periodicals to find out 

more about their resurgence, and during one particular 

interview with their guitar great, John Frusciante, he 

mentioned he was a big fan of a band which was 

opening for the Chilis, called Blonde Redhead.

So I followed Frusciante's lead and picked 

up Blonde Redhead's fifth album: 

'Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons'. 

I popped the CD in the house system and... 

wow... I liked... no... LOVED what I heard. 

The band's three-person lineup (minimally augmented 

with tasty studio overdubs) yielded an inventive, musically 

challenging sound that appealed directly to both me AND 

my lovely lady, Pamela. Which was quite a big feat, 

considering that our musical tastes differed mightily,

with respect to anything that sounded 

remotely like progressive rawk.

I think the main difference between 'normal' prog rawk 

and the permutation performed by Blonde Redhead was 

that their lead singer was - and still is - a quirky Japanese 

woman named Kazu Makino, whose accented vocal 

prowess cast a spell on both Pam and me.

Her musical partners, twins Amedeo and Simone Pace 

also added high quality vocals to the mix, not to mention 

their Boston-trained percussive and stringed prowess.

The songs themselves run the gamut from the 6/8 

intensity of Melody Of Certain Three, to the almost 

Parisien pop of In Particular, to the stark, emotive 

balladry of Hated Because of Great Qualities 

to... 

my favourite track on the album: "A Cure".

With great shared lead vocals, "A Cure" feels at once 

like a Yes song, albeit with PFM-like male vocals, 

accented by Kazu's breathy rejoindres. 

The combination still feels fresh and invigorating, 

a full decade or more down the road of life.

Here's "A Cure", following a brief backyard 

visual from my trusty camera eye.

Moss the Elder

www.vapormusic.com

Classic Song 41 - The Doors "When The Music's Over"

When I was 13 years old, 

my brother Gord took me to my 

first ever rock concert, headlined

by none other than The Doors.

Mom, Dad and I were in Vancouver,

visiting relatives, and while spending an 

afternoon with big brother Gord, he

asked if I'd be interested in seeing

The Doors that very evening,

July 13th, 1968 at the

Pacific Coliseum.

Needless to say, I voiced an unqualified 'yes',

which was followed by Gord, wanting to 

make absolutely sure I was into seeing 

the band, since the 2 tickets'd 

cost him about 8 bucks.

I guess my job of convincing him was... 

convincing, for the next thing I knew,

I'd gone and bought a Nehru shirt at

Woolworth's, and Gord and I made

our way to the Coliseum - first,

to see the 3 opening acts, The 

Crome Syrcus, The Hydro-

Electric Streetcar and solo

singer, Tom Northcott.

Remember: this was my first rock concert,

so I was overwhelmed by a few things,

such as the pre-show crowd revelry 

(which got me all worked up), not

to mention (to the parents) my

first, ever contact high....

which really got me worked up.

So when the hockey PA speakers echoed the 

following announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen,

from Los Angeles, California, THE DOORS", I 

nearly leaped straight out of my skin and onto

the stage, except that it was about 20 rows 

away, and I was too young to be allowed 

to disappear from within Gord's sight. 

I stayed in my seat, straining to take in every, 

single moment of Morrison's and his band

mates' performance, albeit from row 20.

The concert changed my life, without a doubt.

Who knows? If I'd not seen this show at the

impressionable age of thirteen, would I have

been galvanized enough (without its impetus)

to want to be in the music business, when I was 

old enough to try my luck and my folks' patience?

Most likely, the true answer would still be 'yes',

even without my experiences, during that singular

and influential evening with the Lower Mainland 

hippies, the multi-named, long maned opening 

bands, followed by Northcott and The Doors.

I'm just so glad it happened, and forever 

grateful to Gord for making it happen.

The embedded video was taken during 

The Doors' '68 European tour, which

followed hot on the heels of their

tour of the US and Canada.

The poster and ticket stub 

were screen-grabbed from 

www.MildEquator.com

Mozz the Elder

www.vapormusic.com

Mozz the Elder - Random Rune 6

No man is truly great who is 

great only in his lifetime. 

The test of greatness is 

the page of history.

William Hazlitt

(whose work, ironically, is little-read)

Classic Album 2 - Simon and Garfunkel "Bookends"

Let's talk about Simon and Garfunkel,
their epic concept album, Bookends, 
and the times in which it was 
released to the world - 
including Castlegar.

During the mid to late 60s, the family home on 
the hill was constantly thrumming with music. 


At any given time, the console stereo would be 
pumping out the latest sounds from a wide 
variety of artists, while Rod's Seabreeze 
record player was in use in his or my 
bedroom. Doug might be outside,
washing his 4-wheeled pride and 
joy, as its radio blared the 
hit parade, courtesy of 
Castlegar's own 
CKQR.


Meanwhile, Gord, 
Ken and I might be in the 
rumpus room, trading licks: 
Gord on his '65 Yamaha Spanish 
guitar (with the original 'motorcycle 
spokes' logo on the headstock), Ken
playing his Ludwig Jazz kit, and me 
on my used, $25, candy apple red 
Teisco bass (with the 4 pickups).

Music was anywhere and everywhere, 
on the hill and in the valley below.


That was how cool Castlegar 
was, way back in the 60s.

When Rod unwrapped and first played Bookends, 
top to bottom, we brothers all stopped what we 
were doing and congregated in the living room, 
amazed by the LP's lush production and 2-sided 
concept: side one exploring the ups and downs of 
ageing and side two containing hit song after hit song, 
mostly written for (and rejected from) the soundtrack to 
the movie The Graduate. My ears quickly became hooked 
on the album, requiring daily doses of its timeless strains, 
as I subconciously memorized every melody and lyric, 
not to mention its perfectly planned - perfectly 
sequenced running order...


Side One: 


Bookends Theme; Save The Life of My Child, 
featuring Bob Moog's synthesiser; the magnificent, 
sprawling America; Overs; the haunting Voices of 
Old People (who were not much older then than I 
am now); one of my lifelong faves, 
Old Friends and the title song, 
Bookends.


Side Two: 


Fakin' It, with its incredibly deep and wide production,
 courtesy of the great Roy Halee (whom I met in early '80); 
the humorous Punky's Dilemma; the number one smash, 
Mrs. Robinson; A Hazy Shade of Winter and... finally... 
the mesmerising At The Zoo, with its tongue-twisting 
couplets of rich, wry rhyme. What an album!! 


I searched far and wide for clean copies of each song,
then embedded each Tube video in its correct sequence,
below. I couldn't find Voices Of Old People, and could
only locate a 'live', mono version of Punky's Dilemma.


Now, it's up to you, ladies and fine fellows, 
to follow the mellow yellow brick road...
back... back... no... further... yeah... 
THAT far back... 


...to the distant spring of '68.


Here's Classic Album 2,
almost in its entirety: 
"Bookends".




Bookends Theme

Save The Life Of My Child

America

Overs

Old Friends

Bookends

Fakin' It (Mono)

Punky's Dilemma

(live version from 1968)

Mrs Robinson

A Hazy Shade of Winter

At The Zoo

Mozz the Elder

www.vapormusic.com

Mozz the Elder - Random Rune 5

A painter paints pictures on canvas.

But musicians paint pictures on silence.

Leopold Stokowski

Classic Song 40 - Lenny Breau "Toronto"

Let's talk about classic music.

Let's talk about Lenny Breau.

When I was a kid, my brother Gord used to play a song

he wrote with his buddy, Joe Irving. Entitled "Firelight

Fairytale", Gord's song featured Joe's vocal and lyric,

to be sure, but the tune's magic came from the style

of acoustic guitar playing and chording that my 

big brother said was inspired by Lenny Breau, 

whom I'd never even heard - or heard of. 

In 1972, I first travelled to Toronto, as one of

200 young, Canadian school kids who were

chosen to attend a 2 week-long conference 

at Newtonbrook Secondary School, in 

beautiful northern Toronto. All

the students were also asked 

to take in a few shows,

including a concert at

the famed Massey 

Hall, featuring

The Toronto

Symphony

Orchestra.

So there I was, in the third row of the stage 

left balcony, waiting for the orchestra to 

begin their program, when, over the 

house PA system, I heard this 

announcement: "And now, 

ladies and gentlemen, 

The Lenny Breau Trio".

Over the polite audience applause, one most likely 

could have heard me exclaiming "Lenny Breau!"

to those around me. I had no idea he was going

to perform before the TSO, so my surprised

outburst was simultaneous with the sight of

 Lenny and his two band mates, waving to

the crowd as they walked to their setup,

which consisted of an upright bass and

a small kit of drums, as well as what

looked to me like a Fender Twin

Reverb amplifier... and Lenny's

six string guitar on a stand.

Once the trio was ready, he leaned into his

microphone and said "We'd like to start 

with a little number I call "Tu-ning".

What followed was a sunshower of guitar 

harmonics, unlike anything I'd ever heard. 

From that moment, until the end of their set,

I was suspended in some kind of out-of-body

universe, where all that mattered was Lenny's

incredible guitar mastery, performed in perfect 

sympathy with his two equally adept sidemen.

Time seemed to stand still, as I osmosed every

nuance that Lenny and his mates coaxed from

their complex, simply astounding repertoire.

I have no recollection of anything the Toronto

Symphony Orchestra played, although I assume

it was a stellar, world class classical performance.

All I remember, to this very day, is how

profoundly Lenny Breau's inimitable 

performance influenced me, and

gave me a dazzling glimpse 

into the rarefied world of 

guitar playing mastery.

Ladies and gentlemen,

may I present to you

Lenny Breau, solo!

But first, warm your hands over the fire.

Mozz the Elder

www.vapormusic.com

Classic Song 39 - The Woodshed Orchestra "Geddy Lee"

This just in...

So here I am, checking emails, and up pops a 

link from my buddy, Lorne 'Gump' Wheaton,

sending me to rushisaband.com (a great Rush

fan ephemera site). Once there, I'm greeted by

a totally uplifting and heartening video/song

tribute to Rush, featuring former Rheostatic,

Dave Clark's The Woodshed Orchestra.

With lyrics like these,

Geddy Lee is a Canadian National Treasure
playing the bass in the greatest rock band ever

All around the world people flock 

to see our Geddy Lee play

"Limelight" and 

"Twenty One Twelve"

and "Tom Sawyer"

"Geddy Lee"'s spontaneous klezmer arrangement

and uproarious 'live' recording and video duly

honour the man that, with his two buddies,

has changed the face of progressive rock.

The best part of this song and video is that 

the majority of the participant artists look

like they were born long after 2112 was

recorded, let alone Limelight and Tom

Sawyer. That's the most heartening

thing, to me, about "Geddy Lee".

The torch has been passed.

A new generation of Rush fans - 

inventive artists in their own right - 

have paid homage, and in shining

yet another bright spotlight on 

Messrs Lee, Lifeson and Peart,

they, too bask in the afterglow.

Congratulations to Dave Clark

and his Woodshed Orchestra

for making magic 

AND my day.

Here's "Geddy Lee",

(available in Spanish, 

German and Italian 

versions, too).

Mozz the Elder

www.vapormusic.com

Classic Album 1 - Pink Floyd "The Wall"

The other day, I was bemoaning the often repeated 

opinion that there are very few, complete albums, 

new or vintage, that merit the adjective 'classic'.

The Beatles' "Revolver" is surely deserved of classic status,

with nary a drop of musical filler in its to-the-brim brew.

The Rolling Stones' "Beggars Banquet" answered all 

post - "...Satanic Majesties..." requests for more fruits 

from their rock, rhythm and blues and country roots.

The Band's sophomore album is generally regarded as 

another complete, musical thought, with song after

song that speak of, and to, old myths and truths,
played as one by the five Band members.

Van Morrison's Astral Weeks is a timeless journey of 

both musical and spiritual discovery, with more soul

per song than just about any album, before or since.

For us proggers, certainly Yes' Close To The Edge

pretty well confirmed the theory, postulated at the

time of their previous release, Fragile, that Yes 

was the greatest prog rock ensemble ever.

But the LP I'm featuring for this inaugural posting 

of a complete, Classic Album is none of the above.

Ladies and gentlemen, would you please hoist 

your flutes, shot glasses, bottles, pints and 

mugs in a toast to the undeniable, dark 

genius that is Roger Waters, and his 

and his band's 'everlast-erpiece', 

The Wall.

I could offer up and let you sample a few, gossipy tidbits,

gleaned directly from the mouth of The Wall's producer, 

Toronto's Bob Ezrin, since I had occasion on two occasions 

to speak to Bob about his legendary involvement (read: 

battle) with the unyielding control freak, also known as 

Pink Floyd's main composer, lyricist, bassist 

and mastermind, George Roger Waters.

But I'd rather shut the fuck up and let you experience 

Pink Floyd's final, epic release of the 70s: "The Wall".

Here it is, in its entirety, contained on one, 

hour-and-a-half long Youtube video post,

following a couple of my OTHER fave

walls - all of which are hidden in plain

sight, within the city limits of Rome.

Mozz the Elder

www.vapormusic.com