Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[GonePlaid]

...don't hold your breath!

Can't.

 

[SoulReflection]

Why can't they create music like this anymore.

I have been wondering this for some time. There doesn't appear to be that much interest now and, sadly, as time passes, there are fewer of us who remember this magical time .

 

[GonePlaid]

Part 2 of our road trip:

We left Bend at the crack of caffeine. Destination was Burns OR., then south to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge was in the news a few years ago for the occupation of park headquarters by some disgruntled farm/ranch land use advocates. It's an exceptional place for birding and we have probably seen at least 100 species over a few trips in the past. You never really know what may be coming through though, and the recent extreme weather in the prairie states, coupled with major flooding around Burns in the last couple of weeks, made for a very unpredictable prognosis. We drove through the 125 mi. of badlands/sagebrush and set out for park HQ, knowing from past experience that there are often some outlier species to be seen just outside of town, since the farmers' fields can easily flood and be just as attractive as the huge alkali marshes in the Refuge area.

Sure enough, less than two minutes out of town:

View attachment 3392934

Tens of thousands of Snow geese, like fields of cotton stretching for a mile or two. But a closer look shows...what?

Sandhill cranes, which are one of the coveted "trophy" birds that only nest in a few spots in the Pacific Northwet (sic). Even seeing a few is a pretty big deal and it often takes half a day or longer to see the first one in the park.

One:

View attachment 3392936

And then several:

View attachment 3392937

And then I lost count at 100+ in under a minute. I'd guess we saw close to 1000 in less than a mile of driving. Later on we found out that most of these are "Lesser" Sandhills, slightly smaller ones that nest in the Artic tundra in Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. They just happened to be coming through from Nebraska, so the window for seeing this flock would only be a few days, most likely. We only saw three "Greater" ones in the park proper, and a ranger told us that some of the bigger ones from the huge main flock would be showing up in the park over the next few days.

This guy was alone when we got to the park a bit later, waiting on his honey I guess:

View attachment 3392944

He was huge, maybe 5 feet tall.

I drive from Stuart, FL, to Orlando coupla times a month. Rather than take the Florida Turnpike, I take a back road through cattle country. During the spring mating season. I quickly lose count of the sandhill cranes-often with their 'puffball' offspring and also the occasional pair of Whoopers, which tower over the sandhills. There is a reserve off the road I take where there is a breeding program for Whoopers(yes, the one they made the movie about). Usually see pairs of Eagles and lots of Ospreys.[there are a bunch of lakes nearby]

 

[Passinwind]

I drive from Stuart, FL, to Orlando coupla times a month. Rather than take the Florida Turnpike, I take a back road through cattle country. During the spring mating season. I quickly lose count of the sandhill cranes-often with their 'puffball' offspring and also the occasional pair of Whoopers, which tower over the sandhills. There is a reserve off the road I take where there is a breeding program for Whoopers(yes, the one they made the movie about). Usually see pairs of Eagles and lots of Ospreys.[there are a bunch of lakes nearby]

Nice! Eagles and Ospreys are all over the place around here right now.

 

[GonePlaid]

Happy Soulful Sunday...

Terrific! Once again, I'm more familiar with the Wayne Cochran version since I grew up and lived in Miami at that time and it's the one that got air play.

 

[LBS-bass]

So... turning 60 has given me some food for thought. I'm not getting any younger, of course, and the time I have left to do the things I want to do is looking limited. For the past few years I've been getting a lot of work as a bassist, which is great, but I have always also been a singer, and I'm incredibly frustrated by the lack of opportunities to sing lead in all of the projects I'm currently involved with.

A few months ago I started putting a song list together and then I got busy with another project. That's done, so now I'm getting back to the idea that I need to sing and the only way to do it is going to be to create my own opportunity. For some reason, I know lots of drummers in the area who are really good, but guitar players are all mediocre at best (I have heard one or two really good ones here but they stay very busy). Yesterday I put an ad on Craigslist to see if I can get that party started. I figure I might as well do it now because I'm not going to be able to do it forever. Perhaps this is just an old person's fever dream... we shall see.

 

[GonePlaid]

I have been wondering this for some time. There doesn't appear to be that much interest now and, sadly, as time passes, there are fewer of us who remember this magical time .

I'll venture an opinion: they had at least 8 horns in that band. And a spacious stage-Budget.
I was in a Chicago type band in '69. We did an audition at "The World Famous Castaways" in Miami Beach. The owner loved our sound(7 of us). He asked "can you cut it down to 5?" (we didn't-played our 2 weeks and broke up)
My current band is 4 pieces. We're asked to play in spaces that'll barely hold 2. These places hire singles and duos that play to tracks. We sure as hell ain't getting paid what we should get but we still enjoy playing out. Or we could sit at home and watch the weather channel.
One other thing. The profit margin on booze is how a lotta clubs make the $ to pay the band. With the stricter drinking/driving rules, people aren't buying drinks. Therefore, no money for the bands. I'm certainly not in favor of people driving when they shouldn't, but it's cut way down on attendance.<addendum>This area has almost non-existent public transportation and none after 10 PM.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I have been wondering this for some time. There doesn't appear to be that much interest now and, sadly, as time passes, there are fewer of us who remember this magical time .

The record industry is more interested in promoting pop. It’s less expensive to produce. These days, one or two big artists with new material carry a record company in terms of million dollar unit sales. Having a roster of artists selling millions of albums is over.

Maybe all the soul songs have been written and new attempts come across as sounding too heavily influenced by what was done in the past. In the style of isn’t a bad thing. In that respect, I think that there are songs waiting to be written.

 

[SoulReflection]

So... turning 60 has given me some food for thought. I'm not getting any younger, of course, and the time I have left to do the things I want to do is looking limited. For the past few years I've been getting a lot of work as a bassist, which is great, but I have always also been a singer, and I'm incredibly frustrated by the lack of opportunities to sing lead in all of the projects I'm currently involved with.

A few months ago I started putting a song list together and then I got busy with another project. That's done, so now I'm getting back to the idea that I need to sing and the only way to do it is going to be to create my own opportunity. For some reason, I know lots of drummers in the area who are really good, but guitar players are all mediocre at best (I have heard one or two really good ones here but they stay very busy). Yesterday I put an ad on Craigslist to see if I can get that party started. I figure I might as well do it now because I'm not going to be able to do it forever. Perhaps this is just an old person's fever dream... we shall see.

I believe an "older person's fever dream" is actually a "bucket list"...keeps us young and keeps us going. Good luck with your project. On mine is the opportunity to play in a good '60's tribute band.

 

[LBS-bass]

I'll venture an opinion: they had at least 8 horns in that band. And a spacious stage-Budget.
I was in a Chicago type band in '69. We did an audition at "The World Famous Castaways" in Miami Beach. The owner loved our sound(7 of us). He asked "can you cut it down to 5?" (we didn't-played our 2 weeks and broke up)
My current band is 4 pieces. We're asked to play in spaces that'll barely hold 2. These places hire singles and duos that play to tracks. We sure as hell ain't getting paid what we should get but we still enjoy playing out. Or we could sit at home and watch the weather channel.
One other thing. The profit margin on booze is how a lotta clubs make the $ to pay the band. With the stricter drinking/driving rules, people aren't buying drinks. Therefore, no money for the bands. I'm certainly not in favor of people driving when they shouldn't, but it's cut way down on attendance.

Yeah, horn bands are expensive. Personnel are expensive. In another thread I posted about the $40 jobs I used to do in the late 70's and how that doesn't sound like much but today it's the equivalent of $140. Small clubs aren't paying out anything like that kind of money these days. There's a wide gap between what's practical in most live venues versus what's being played on the radio/streamed on Spotify and YouTube.

The good news is that there are a few bands coming out who are keeping the funk thing alive, even though it may be a little watered down and not quite as raw. It's not yesterday's soul, but it does have serious soulful roots. I'll take that over much of what's passing for popular music these days.

 

[GonePlaid]

Yeah, horn bands are expensive. Personnel are expensive. In another thread I posted about the $40 jobs I used to do in the late 70's and how that doesn't sound like much but today it's the equivalent of $140. Small clubs aren't paying out anything like that kind of money these days. There's a wide gap between what's practical in most live venues versus what's being played on the radio/streamed on Spotify and YouTube.

The good news is that there are a few bands coming out who are keeping the funk thing alive, even though it may be a little watered down and not quite as raw. It's not yesterday's soul, but it does have serious soulful roots. I'll take that over much of what's passing for popular music these days.

So true. We used to have a sax man play with us occasionally. We hadda take money out of our shares to pay him even though the venue owner loved the addition.

 

[SoulReflection]

I'll venture an opinion: they had at least 8 horns in that band. And a spacious stage-Budget.
I was in a Chicago type band in '69. We did an audition at "The World Famous Castaways" in Miami Beach. The owner loved our sound(7 of us). He asked "can you cut it down to 5?" (we didn't-played our 2 weeks and broke up)
My current band is 4 pieces. We're asked to play in spaces that'll barely hold 2. These places hire singles and duos that play to tracks. We sure as hell ain't getting paid what we should get but we still enjoy playing out. Or we could sit at home and watch the weather channel.
One other thing. The profit margin on booze is how a lotta clubs make the $ to pay the band. With the stricter drinking/driving rules, people aren't buying drinks. Therefore, no money for the bands. I'm certainly not in favor of people driving when they shouldn't, but it's cut way down on attendance.

I agree with you here, but I would be willing to forego a permanent horn section and go with bass, guitar, drums, organ and good vocals, just like I did in the '60's.

 

[Passinwind]

So... turning 60 has given me some food for thought. I'm not getting any younger, of course, and the time I have left to do the things I want to do is looking limited. For the past few years I've been getting a lot of work as a bassist, which is great, but I have always also been a singer, and I'm incredibly frustrated by the lack of opportunities to sing lead in all of the projects I'm currently involved with.

A few months ago I started putting a song list together and then I got busy with another project. That's done, so now I'm getting back to the idea that I need to sing and the only way to do it is going to be to create my own opportunity. For some reason, I know lots of drummers in the area who are really good, but guitar players are all mediocre at best (I have heard one or two really good ones here but they stay very busy). Yesterday I put an ad on Craigslist to see if I can get that party started. I figure I might as well do it now because I'm not going to be able to do it forever. Perhaps this is just an old person's fever dream... we shall see.

I've been there, more or less. My solution was to just play guitar myself. And bass. And write all the tunes. And handle the PA. No wonder I'm so grumpy!

 

[GonePlaid]

I agree with you here, but I would be willing to forego a permanent horn section and go with bass, guitar, drums, organ and good vocals, just like I did in the '60's.

Yup! A good keyboard-and player-can make a huge difference. I have a decent keyboard(non-working at this time)and I could 'woodshed' my questionable technique, but at the places we normally play, the keyboard and the drum kit would fill the available space, leaving the 2 guitarists(and better singers)out. Back to the drawing board. BTW, I've been questioned about the lack of space thing. This is one of our 'band areas'-not stage or stand-and we hafta to play here as a trio. I'm in the corner, drummer took pic. JBL EON One PA to my left. Dance 'area' in front of drums. (Country Club restaurant/lounge)

the keyboard:

 

[StereoPlayer]

Why can't they create music like this anymore.

In the same week in January of 1966 that this song was released, Uptight by Stevie Wonder and Going To A Go Go by the Miracles made thier debut. It was an exciting time musically. The audience in the video was up for it.

The amps on stage are interesting. I don't recognize the make. Looks like it starts with a script L.

View attachment 3393142


You can see what looks like it could be a tweed Fender and a Kustom.

View attachment 3393147

Layfette amps

 

[LBS-bass]

Yup! A good keyboard-and player-can make a huge difference. I have a decent keyboard(non-working at this time)and I could 'woodshed' my questionable technique, but at the places we normally play, the keyboard and the drum kit would fill the available space, leaving the 2 guitarists(and better singers)out. Back to the drawing board. BTW, I've been questioned about the lack of space thing. This is one of our 'band areas'-not stage or stand-and we hafta to play here as a trio. I'm in the corner, drummer took pic. JBL EON One PA to my left. Dance 'area' in front of drums. (Country Club restaurant/lounge)
View attachment 3393225 the keyboard: View attachment 3393228

Back in the 80's I was in a cover band that was four piece: Me on lead vocals and bass, my amazing guitarist friend on lead and rhythm, drums, and keys. Our keyboard player had some synthy horn patches which we used on a lot of the R&B stuff we did.

I recently unearthed a recording of that and had it digitized; it's up on YouTube now. Man, those synthy horns sure do sound hokey today, but back then, they were incredible, and that band sounded better than I remember. This was before sampled sounds became a thing.

I'm sure if you could find a keyboard player willing to learn signature parts and play sampled patches like that, it would add a lot of versatility, but I find it impossible to find players like that nowadays. All the keyboard players I've auditioned just want to read charts and play chords and solos over charted changes. They don't want to learn anything.

 

[sharkbait130]

We went up to the family farm yesterday for an early Easter dinner. A few family members were not going to be able to make it today (Sunday) so we had it a day early. Dinner was great. Before we left , Seahags brother (Wilderbeastbait , maybe I'll explain that later) cranked up the front loader and dropped a load of cow poop in the back of the truck. Today , Seahag shoveled the poop onto the garden plot. Then we tilled the plot into very nice rows. Spinach , kale and radishes should be going in next weekend and six tomato plants a couple of weeks later. The last time we cow pooped the garden , the tomatoes were absolutely amazing that year. Probably going to plant some squash , basil , dill , and some other small stuff also. No chemicals or commercial fertilizer have ever touched the ground in my garden. Here's to home grown 'maters.

 

[GonePlaid]

Back in the 80's I was in a cover band that was four piece: Me on lead vocals and bass, my amazing guitarist friend on lead and rhythm, drums, and keys. Our keyboard player had some synthy horn patches which we used on a lot of the R&B stuff we did.

I recently unearthed a recording of that and had it digitized; it's up on YouTube now. Man, those synthy horns sure do sound hokey today, but back then, they were incredible, and that band sounded better than I remember. This was before sampled sounds became a thing.

I'm sure if you could find a keyboard player willing to learn signature parts and play sampled patches like that, it would add a lot of versatility, but I find it impossible to find players like that nowadays. All the keyboard players I've auditioned just want to read charts and play chords and solos over charted changes. They don't want to learn anything.

We prolly could. Or the one guitar man who doubles bass and I could switch instruments(sort of-he plays a Jazz, I play a TBird). I wouldn't even attempt to fix/use the one pictured-too heavy. I've considered buying one that's portable and has good piano, organ and brass sounds. But it's not a priority. We don't make a lot as it is. Just the nature if this market. Plus which, I have what I refer to as 'the Italian condition'-mufunzalo. Oh, one more thing[Columbo], they don't really pay enough for 4 pieces, adding a fifth* would come out of our pockets.

*preferably a Single Malt Scotch

 

[beans-on-toast]

Layfette amps
View attachment 3393278

Thanks!

Seems that tube and solid state amps were made in Japan.

In the 60’s I used to receive a thick catalog every year from Lafayette Radio Electronics. I recall them selling musical instrument amps made by various manufacturers. Don’t know if it’s the same company as these ones.

An interesting choice for Sam and Dave’s band. The gear could have been provided for the show.

 

[beans-on-toast]

We went up to the family farm yesterday for an early Easter dinner. A few family members were not going to be able to make it today (Sunday) so we had it a day early. Dinner was great. Before we left , Seahags brother (Wilderbeastbait , maybe I'll explain that later) cranked up the front loader and dropped a load of cow poop in the back of the truck. Today , Seahag shoveled the poop onto the garden plot. Then we tilled the plot into very nice rows. Spinach , kale and radishes should be going in next weekend and six tomato plants a couple of weeks later. The last time we cow pooped the garden , the tomatoes were absolutely amazing that year. Probably going to plant some squash , basil , dill , and some other small stuff also. No chemicals or commercial fertilizer have ever touched the ground in my garden. Here's to home grown 'maters.

Doesn’t get any better when you can grow your own vegetables! Especially tomatoes. As a kid, I used to be in competition every year to see who could grow the best field tomato. Nothing better than a one slice sandwich.