PATIENCE PERCHANCE (a re-posting)

THE EVENING HAD SURLY BEGINNINGS IT SEEMED
WHEN A WHISPER WAS TRADED FOR SHOUT
AND THE CHARM OF THE WINE HAD A LIFE OF ITS OWN
AS A SCOUNDREL AT ONCE WAS LET OUT…
IN A BITTERER TONE THAN HAD YET BEEN ACHIEVED
CAME A RAMPANT SUCCESSION OF LIES
AND THE LOGIC BAROMETER BOBBED WITH UNEASE
NEITHER PLACING FOR WICKED OR WISE…
AS DISARMING THE HARBINGER, STRIPPING THE SUIT
THAT HAD WEATHERED THE BEST OF THE STORMS
CAME A PURPOSE SO DARK THAT IT STOOD IN THE LIGHT
TO COMMUTE THROUGH ITS VARIOUS FORMS
CANNOT FIGHT WHAT IS LESSER IF LESSER IS PUSHED
TO THE BORDER OF WHAT WILL FALL DOWN
FOR A MOMENT OF LEARNING IS SO FAR BEYOND
THAT OF ACRE, OR TITLE, OR CROWN…
IN A DREAM OF THE FUTURE THE RABBIT WAS KING
HE WAS GENTLE, AND NOBLE, AND MUTE
AND HIS SUBJECTS WOULD PROSPER AND SMILE WHEN THEY SLEPT
NEVER HAUNTED OR STALKED BY DISPUTE…
IN A DREAM OF THE DARK SIDE THE MAMBA WAS GOD
THE SAVANNA WAS CASE TO HIS THRONE
AND HE TOOK WHAT HE WANTED AND DID WHAT HE PLEASED
BUT HE ENDED UP SAD, AND ALONE…
IN A BLIGHT OR A BLINDNESS BROUGHT ON BY THE STARS
AND OUR CLOSENESS TO GOOD SISTER MOON…
WE INCLINE TO REMEMBER WHAT BRINGS US OUR JOY
AND TO PAIN WE ATTEMPT TO ATTUNE
BUT IF BOLDER AND NEWER IS BIGGER AND BETTER
THEN WHERE STANDS THE JOURNEYMAN’S FATE…
IN A BREATH FOR THE GALAXY, SPIT FOR THE SPEED
WE CONCEIVE… AND WE THINK…AND WE WAIT…

9/6/11

FAME AND SUCH THINGS…

SO HOW BIG IS TOO BIG ? JUST READING THE SHORT TEASER ARTICLE IN ROLLING STONE ABOUT “GEORGE HARRISON, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF THE QUIET BEATLE”…FROM MUCH I’VE READ, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT GEORGE DIDN’T MUCH CARE FOR BEING IN THE BEATLES FROM ABOUT LATE 1965 ONWARD. FRIAR PARK WAS LARGELY AN ESCAPE, IF ONE IS TO PUT MUCH STOCK IN WHAT ONE READS.
SEEMS IN MANY CASES THAT “TOO MUCH FAME” ENDS IS TRAGEDY…
ELVIS, MICHAEL JACKSON, JIM MORRISON…THESE THREE WERE INCREDIBLY SUCCESSFUL AND FAMOUS…AND MARILYN MONROE…THERE’S FAME AND THEN THERE’S “FAME”…MUCH OF THE TIME IN ’08 WHEN WE WERE DOING ABOVE THE GROUND, WE’D HEAR SWARMS OF HELICOPTERS ON CERTAIN DAYS. WE’D ALL JUST SURMISE “OH WELL, I GUESS SOMEBODY TIPPED OFF THE PRESS WHERE BRITNEY’S HAVING LUNCH”…AND THAT WAS THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT…PERIOD. BRITNEY HAVING LUNCH AT SOME L.A. BISTRO WAS REASON ENOUGH FOR PERHAPS FIVE OR SIX HELICOPTERS TO BE OUT “COVERING THE EVENT”…
TOM PETTY TALKED ABOUT “ELVIS / BEATLE” FAME…MEANING THE KIND OF FAME WHEREIN YOU CAN’T EVER GO TO THE SEVEN-ELEVEN AGAIN…
THERE ARE CERTAIN HUMAN FACES THAT HAVE BEEN INGRAINED INTO THE MASS CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE FREE WORLD. THE PEOPLE WITH THESE FACES ARE “ON DISPLAY” THE MINUTE THEY LEAVE THEIR HOME”…
THAT WAS WHAT GEORGE SEEMINGLY COULDN’T DEAL WITH. AND THEN THAT TERRIBLE EVENT WHERE SOME LOON ACTUALLY GOT RIGHT INTO FRIAR PARK AND STABBED GEORGE, INJURING HIS LUNG. DHANI HAS SAID THAT IT WAS THAT CONFLICT AND WOUND THAT GREATLY CONTRIBUTED TO GEORGE’S EARLY DEMISE. THIS IS ONLY WHAT I’VE READ, FOLKS…THESE ARE NOT MY OPINIONS…
SO NOW, THIS FILM OR TV DOCUMENTARY OR WHATEVER IT IS ABOUT GEORGE IS COMING FROM SCORSESE…THE MYTH OF THE BEATLES WILL NEVER BE OVER. THE FACT THAT TWO OF THEM LEFT US SO YOUNG HAS ONLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE LEGEND…THE HUGENESS OF IT ALL…YEARS AGO, I MEAN DECADES AGO, I READ SOME ARTICLE WHEREIN THE WRITER SAID HE “JUST COULDN’T IMAGINE THE FOUR OF THEM AS OLD MEN, ALL TOGETHER”…WELL THAT CERTAINLY CAME TRUE…
RECALLING ’64 AND ’65, IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE NOW JUST HOW BIG THE BEATLES WERE. THEY HIT THE WORLD LIKE A HUGE ASTEROID HURTLING IN FROM SPACE. BY THE THE TIME THEY DID “ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE” (BROADCAST WORLD WIDE LIVE, JUNE 25,1967) THEY WERE A HUGE PART OF THE GLOBAL AWARENESS…I REMEMBER WATCHING THAT TV BROADCAST THAT SUNDAY MORNING, ALMOST DIZZY FROM WHAT IT MEANT FOR A BAND TO BE THAT BIG…THE GW WERE DOING WEEKLY TELEVISION AT THAT TIME, AND WE WERE SEEN EVERY THURSDAY ACROSS CANADA AND SOME NEIGHBOURING NORTHERN AMERICAN STATES FROM FIVE THIRTY TO SIX PM…WE THOUGHT THAT WAS PRETTY GOOD, YES…BUT THAT “OUR WORLD” BROADCAST WITH THE BEATLES SEEN BY OVER 400 MILLION PEOPLE…
REMEMBER, THAT WAS 1967…THE WORLD POPULATION AT THAT TIME WAS ONLY 3.4 BILLION…ROUGHLY ONE OUT OF EVERY EIGHT HUMANS ON EARTH WATCHED THE BEATLES THAT SUNDAY…ASTOUNDING…
THAT’S THE LEVEL OF FAME THAT ONLY A VERY FEW HUMANS REACH. NOT SURE IF IT’S ALL IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE. CERTAINLY FOR GEORGE HARRISON IT PROVED TO BE A BIT MUCH.
ROBERT REDFORD USED TO SAY HE MISSED JUST BEING ABLE TO GO FOR A DRINK IN SOME SMALL DINGY BAR…AT LEAST I THINK IT WAS REDFORD…BIT BLURRY…OF COURSE, THE ULTIMATE WOULD BE TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO TURN IT ON AND TURN IT OFF AT WILL…BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT FAME IS…THAT’S JUST NOT HOW IT WORKS.
EVEN DURING OUR EARLIEST BRUSHES WITH “FAME” IN THE EARLY DEVERON DAYS, I THINK WE REALIZED THAT IT WAS “SPECIAL” SOMEHOW…AND BY THAT I DON’T MEAN “ALWAYS ALL GREAT”…
MAYBE ONE OF THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO OUR SUCCESS AS THE DEVERONS WAS THE FACT THAT WE WERE ALL SO YOUNG…I HAD A WHOLE “CAREER FULL OF EVENTS, PEOPLE, AND PLACES” WITH THE DEVERONS, ALL BEFORE I EVER TURNED 18…
FAME AT DIFFERENT STAGES…DIFFERENT LEVELS…I REMEMBER VIVIDLY AN INCIDENT INVOLVING FAME AT SOME LEVEL OR ANOTHER IN 1966…I HAD BEEN OUT OF SCHOOL FOR ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN MONTHS, HAVING JOINED THE GUESS WHO RIGHT AFTER MY 18TH BIRTHDAY. “BELIEVE ME” WAS OUR FIRST SINGLE WITH ME ON IT, TAKEN FROM THE “IT’S TIME” ALBUM WHICH WE RECORDED IN FEB / MARCH. OF 1966 IN MINNEAPOLIS. CHAD WAS STILL THE LEAD VOCAL ON “BELIEVE ME”. BUT THE NEXT SINGLE WAS “CLOCK ON THE WALL” A SONG OF RANDY’S, AND IT WAS MY FIRST LEAD VOCAL AS THE GUESS WHO’S SINGER…BY THE TIME “CLOCK ON THE WALL” CAME OUT, CHAD HAD LEFT THE BAND AND GONE BACK TO SCHOOL… AND THE GUYS (MAINLY RANDY AND BOB BURNS, OUR MANAGER AT THE TIME) ENCOURAGED ME TO “DO IT KINDA LIKE ERIC BURDON”…IT WAS A FAIRLY HEAVY SONG, BUT AT 18 I JUST DIDN’T HAVE THE “ROUGHNESS” REQUIRED TO MAKE MY PERFORMANCE OF IT CREDIBLE. NONETHELESS, THE SINGLE CAME OUT WITH MY 18-YEAR-OLD LEAD VOCAL ON IT, AND THEY PLAYED THE HELL OUT OF IT IN WINNIPEG…I MEAN, A LOT OF AIRPLAY. “CLOCK ON THE WALL” WAS INDEED A SUCCESSFUL RECORD IN WINNIPEG…ONE AFTERNOON DURING THIS TIME I DROVE MY OLD CHEVY UP TO ST. JOHN’S HIGH, THE SCHOOL I’D DROPPED OUT OF IN NOV. OF ’65, THE PREVIOUS YEAR. I PARKED AND WATCHED THE KIDS, WHO WERE MOSTLY ABOUT MY AGE, JUST SLIGHTLY YOUNGER…TWO YOUNG GIRLS CAME OVER TO MY CAR, PERHAPS WANTING TO GO FOR A DRIVE OR SOMETHING…IT WAS 1966, FOLKS, IT WAS A FAR MORE INNOCENT WORLD THEN…WE DIDN’T GO FOR A DRIVE, BUT WE BEGAN TO TALK…IT CAME UP THAT I WAS A SINGER, AND THAT I WAS IN THE GW, AND THAT I WAS THE GUY WHO SANG “CLOCK ON THE WALL”…
BOTH GIRLS SCREAMED…THE TALLER ONE SAID “YOU SING CLOCK ON THE WALL…?” I SAID “YEAH, THAT’S ME…”
THEY BOTH LET OUT A SCREAM…
HERE I WAS AN 18 YEAR OLD KID IN WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, WHO HAD DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL WITH A COMPLETE GRADE TEN AND NO MORE, AND TWO GIRLS OUTSIDE ST. JOHN’S WERE LETTING OUT A SCREAM BECAUSE IT WAS YOURS TRULY WHO SANG “CLOCK ON THE WALL”…
FAME…
AT WHATEVER LEVEL YOU’D LIKE TO CATEGORIZE IT, THAT WAS FAME…LITTLE DID I KNOW WHAT WAS TO COME IN THE ENSUING YEARS.
SEEMS TO ME THAT IT NEVER ESCAPED ME JUST HOW SPECIAL IT ALL WAS, THIS “UNFOLDING OF A STORY” THAT WAS INDEED MY LIFE. OUR FIRST REAL TRIP TO EUROPE IN 1970, WE WERE FLYING THROUGH AN HORRENDOUS THUNDERSTORM ON OUR WAY TO BERLIN. LIGHTNING OUTSIDE THE PLANE IN THE DISTANCE, AND BLINDING RAIN…OUT CAME THE NOTEBOOK AND THE SCHAEFFER’S CARTRIDGE PEN WITH THE WASHABLE BLUE INK (SAME ONE I’D HAD ALL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL). I SCRIBBLED DOWN “GERMAN RAIN…FLYING…DEFYING…TRYING…” (all the time “hearing” that 1 and 5 drone in my head, being held a long time on the word “Rain”…)
NOTHING MUCH SPECIAL ABOUT IT AT ALL, EXCEPT THAT IT LATER TURNED INTO “PAIN TRAIN”…I SERIOUSLY WONDER HOW MANY GW SONGS WOULD NEVER HAVE COME INTO EXISTENCE HAD I NOT ALWAYS KEPT THOSE NOTEBOOKS AND THAT CARTRIDGE PEN WITH ME.
THE MYSTERY OF THE FAME AND RECOGNIZABILITY THING HAS BECOME SLIGHTLY CLEARER TO ME AT THIS AGE (APPROACHING 64). THERE’S A GREAT STANZA IN “THE SAD CAFE” THAT HENLEY WROTE…

“Now I look at the years gone by,
And wonder at the powers that be.
I don’t know why fortune smiles on some
And lets the rest go free…”

SAGE WORDS INDEED…SOMEWHAT ECHOES THAT TIME OLD ADAGE “BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR…”
I DO TRULY BELIEVE THAT ONE OF THE PARAMOUNT THINGS IN LIFE IS TO BE ABLE TO COME TO TERMS WITH WHAT YOU’VE LIVED, EXPERIENCED, LEARNED, AND ACCOMPLISHED. BY “COME TO TERMS WITH” I MEAN “BE OKAY WITH” IN A GENERAL IF NOT SPECIFIC SENSE. I USED TO THINK I (OR “WE”) GOT “SHORTCHANGED” OR “GYPPED” ALONG THE WAY, WISHING WE COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE FAMOUS ON A GLOBAL LEVEL…NOW THAT I’M IN MY SIXTIES, I REALIZE THAT I’VE ACCOMPLISHED FAR MORE THAN MANY, AND BETTER THAN ALL OF THAT, I’M STILL AROUND TO SEE IT IN RETROSPECT. I’M GRATEFUL ON A DAILY BASIS TO HAVE LASTED THIS LONG, AND NOT ONLY GRATEFUL FOR STILL BEING ALIVE, BUT GRATEFUL FOR PRETTY GOOD HEALTH AND A PRETTY GOOD CAREER. NOT MANY IN THEIR SIXTIES STILL HAVE PEOPLE WANTING TO SEE THEM PERFORM…AND MANY IN THEIR SIXTIES JUST CAN’T PERFORM THE WAY THEY WANT TO ANYMORE.
ALL THIS HAS NOT ESCAPED ME. JUST BEING WITH STEVE MILLER A FEW WEEKS AGO REAFFIRMED FOR ME THAT LIFE ISN’T OVER BECAUSE OF AGE OR YEARS…STEVE’S GOT A FEW YEARS ON ME AND HE STILL WENT OUT THERE AND KNOCKED THE CROWD’S SOCKS OFF THAT NIGHT AT THE STATE FAIR…
THE RECORDS WILL LAST FOREVER. THOSE PIECES OF TIME HAVE BEEN FROZEN. AND SOME OF THEM ARE STANDING UP PRETTY WELL THROUGH THE DECADES…MY PRIDE CONCERNING THE REALLY GOOD RECORDS WILL NEVER WANE OR DIMINISH…I’M THANKFUL FOR THE BEST OF THE CAPTURED MOMENTS, AND I’M THANKFUL TO BE ABLE TO HEAR THEM AS A PERSON OF SIX DECADES PLUS. I HAVE AN IMMENSE MUSIC LIBRARY, FULL OF TREMENDOUS TRACKS…AND SOME OF THEM ARE EVEN MINE…IN THE TRUEST SENSE OF THE WORD…
THANKS FOR READING ALL OF THIS…
PEACE AND CALM TONIGHT…
BLC