Bob Dylan In 350 Words

From Hibbing to Minneapolis. New York to the world. From Robert Allen Zimmerman to the mythic figure that is Bob Dylan, the man has been living open to everything, absorbing all he comes in contact with. The Rock and Roll records of Little Richard and Elvis Presley. Beat Poets and wanderers. Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie. All the great artists and songs of American “traditional” music fermenting with his own personal poetic vision, became some of the world's greatest songs.

It began with country ballads, blues, and early rock n' roll carried on airwaves from cities that could only be imagined. Then Elvis and James Dean. Sharing songs with other young musicians. Listening to the songs that make up Harry Smith's, Anthology of American Folk Music.

Bob Dylan to The Times They Are A-Changin' . Dylan tried to find the groove between Hank and Woody. What he saw in the cities, TV screens, and newspaper pages brought the wrath and ire of a boy having to see the world as a man.

After the transitional, Another Side of Bob Dylan, we find Dylan coming back to Chuck Berry, but not yet abandoning his folk roots, even though his now spitting forth verses more akin to the words of Arthur Rimbaud.

His new persona, all ether and mod boots, dove deep into America's psyche and his own. Surrealism and country rock became the vehicle that carried the visions that left lips, intending to wake sleeping ears.

Dylan, torn and frayed, went down into the valley and found the sound, that had come from the Grand ol' Opry long before.

Fallow vanity, desperate pain, a coming to Jesus, a collection of what remained. The plot long lost, Dylan, returned to his blues roots, with Good As I've Been To You and World Gone Wrong.

An examination of death. The resurrection of the poet. Charlie Patton reborn a Japanese gangster in Old, Weird America. Dylan finds Charlie Chaplin drinking with Muddy Waters in Chicago circa 1950. A few years later finds himself, still drunk on whiskey somewhere in Louisiana. 

Cincinnati Reds All-Time Home Run Leaders

The Cincinnati Reds baseball club originated in 1882 as the Cincinnati Red Stockings In 1890 they settled on the “Reds”, though they used the name "Redlegs" for part of the 1950s to avoid any perceived association with Communism. The Reds have a long successful history and many of the games best hitters have worn the uniform including Pete Rose, Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench, and Ken Griffey Jr. The most famous era of Cincinnati Reds baseball would have to be the years of the “Big Red Machine” which lasted from 1970 to 1976. The years of the “Big Red Machine” also produced two of the top five all time home runs leaders in Reds history.

Ted Kluszewski is number five on the list with 251 home runs. Kluszewski was born in Argo, Illinois in 1924. "Big Klu"was a career .298 hitter with 279 home runs and 1028 RBI in 1718 games. In ten of his fifteen seasons, Kluszewski walked (492) more often than he struck out (365). In 1955, he hit 47 homers while striking out only 40 times. No player since him has hit 40 homers and struck out 40 or fewer times in the same season.

Coming in at number 4 and the only active player on this list is Adam Dunn with 270 home runs hit while playing for the Reds. Despite a high strike out rate, “The Big Donkey” is one of the most consitant power hitters in the game today. On July 4, 2009 Dunn became the 123 player to hit 300 home runs for his career.

Tony Perez and his 287 home runs are number three on the list. Perez was a key member of the “Big Red Machine” in the 1970's and after his playing days ended he went on to manage the Reds in 1993. In 1998 Perez was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, but the greatest honor would come in 2000 when The MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown opened its doors to him.

In at number two is possibly one of the top players in Major League history. Frank Robinson hit 324 home runs as a member of the Reds between 1956 and 1965. Robinson is the only player in history to win the MVP award in both the National Leage (Reds in 1961) and American League (Orioles in 1966). He also voted Rookie of The Year in 1956 and won a triple crown in 1966. In 1975, Robinson became the first African-American manager in Major League history. In 1978 Frank Robinson was elected into both the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame. Then in 1982 he was elected into The Major league Baseball Hall of Fame.

Johnny Bench, arguably one of the best catchers to ever play the game, comes in at number one with 389 career home runs as a Red. Bench was another member of the feared “Big Red Machine”, who played with the Reds from 1967 to 1983. He won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1968, and was voted NL MVP in 1970 and 1972. In 1986 Bench was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, followed three years later by his induction into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1989.

The Cincinnati Reds have had many great hitters over the years and with the likes of Joey Votto and Jay Bruce currently playing for the team, the future looks as bright as the past.

St Louis Cardinals All-Time Winningest Pitchers

The St. Louis Cardinals baseball organization is second to the New York Yankees in regards to consistently producing winning teams. The Cardinals long, storied history is predominately known for the hitters and fielders that have worn the uniform with the likes of Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, and Albert Pujols being the big names. What has been generally overlooked is the excellent pitching that has helped the Cardinals win 10 World Series titles, 17 National League Pennants, and 11 Divison Titles.

Coming in at number five on the St Louis Cardinals all times win list with 144 is Bill Doak. Doak was born January 28, 1891, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He played 11 years with the St. Louis Cardinals and is among the Cardinals' top ten in eight pitching categories, with his 32 shutouts second behind Bob Gibson.

Bill Sherdel is 4th on the list with 153 wins. Sherdel was a tough left-handed pitcher that played fifteen seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Braves. Besides ranking 4^th in wins, Sherdel is 3rd in games pitched (465), 4th in innings pitched (2450.7), 5th in games started (242), 8th in complete games (144), in Cardinals franchise history.

3^rd on the Cardinals all-time wins list is Bob Forsch with 163 wins. In a 16-season career, Forsch is one of the very few pitchers, and the only Cardinal, to throw more than one no-hitter. The first came against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1978, and the second happened in 1983 against the Montreal Expos.

Jesse Haines ranks 2^nd on the Cardinals all-time wins list. Haines born in Clayton, Ohio in 1893 and pitched for the Cardinals from 1920 to 1937. He retired from the Cardinals in 1937 with 210 wins. He is also the first Cardinal pitchers to toss a no hitter when he blanked the Boston Braves in 1924.

Haines was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970.

With 251 wins, Bob Gibson is first on the all time St. Louis Cardinals wins list. From 1963-1970 Gibson was quite possibly the most dominating pitcher in the game, posting a record of 156-81 during that span. Gibson was also awarded, Cy Young Awards in 1968 and 1970, World Series MVP Awards in 1964 and 1967 and 8 Gold Glove Awards.

1968 was the year of Bob Gibson. He would finish the season with an incredible 1.12 ERA, 13 shutouts, and at one point a streak of 47 consecutive scoreless innings. Due to a weak Cardinals offense that season he would only post a 22-9 record, losing five 1-0 decisions. The Cardinals would go on to face the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series. In Game 1 of the series, Gibson struck out 17 Tigers, setting a World Series single game record that has yet to be broken. The Cardinals would unfortunately go on to lose the Series 4 games to 3.

In 1981 Bob Gibson had his #45 retired by the St. Louis Cardinals which coincided with his election to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

The tradition of solid pitching in St Louis continues on into the 21^st century with Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright who each have a strong shot at breaking the top five wins list before their careers are over.

What Do Fraggles Know About America Before Moving Here And Then Sending Postcards To Their Nephews?

This piece was written by my good friend Carl Polgar. It was originally posted on his blog Honey Brown Blues.

 This is not a rhetorical question, I’m looking for an answer: What do Fraggles know about America before they move here?

I think conditions in their cave system must be much worse than we can imagine. For example, even if I found a killer job at one of the Doozer’s many construction sites, (and killer jobs are available there,) I think I would first check to see where the Doozers stood on Westerners. If they seemed pretty cool, then I might consider the move. I would not think, “aw, I’m a nice guy, once they get to know me everything’ll be just fine” – because who knows what could happen before they figure out how swell a fellow I am?

NPR reports that Fraggles have been having a hard time dreamsharing in America. Even in 1995, studies showed that over half of the Americans polled believed dreamsharing was anti-American, anti-western, and pro-terrorism. After September 11th, these numbers have grown, obviously.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in support of Fraggles being given a hard time… I just wonder, do they have any idea before they come over here that they aren’t going to be met with overwhelming support? I doubt they do because Enemy Fraggles deep in their own cave system hate America, and have been spreading disinformation for generations to the good Fraggles. As a result, most Fraggles polled distrust Americans more than Americans distrust Fraggles.

Some of things I find most baffling:

1. They chose places like Tennessee. Did no one tell them how many Silly Creatures Of Outer Space live there? Having spent a lot of my life there, I still don’t feel that I can travel through some areas of the state without feeling some anti-Fraggle rhetoric. What makes someone drive through Columbia, Tennessee and say, “looks like as good of a place for a dreamsharing center as any?” All of the complaints mentioned by the man on NPR are for places like Omaha, parts of Iowa, Oklahoma… places that any progressive American would want nothing to do with.

2. Why come to America at all? Since so many in their cave system don’t like us or understand our ways or call us such demeaning names as “Silly Creatures”, why pick America of all places? I don’t know if their news covers it, but certain Americans are throwing quite a fit about a group of Christians immigrating and “taking their jobs” – and these people just happen to be a little darker and speak Spanish, not an entire cultural and Children’s-Television-Workshop-based upheaval.

3. The people who want to be kind and support them are usually not the kind of people a devout and faithful Fraggle would like. They will be the abortion supporters, the homosexuals, and generally sinful. Just coming from my own perspective, if I did believe in dreamsharing, I would want to stay as far away from America as possible. To disparage the President, people claim he is a Gorg. Many Americans believe we are at war with Fraggles, Gorgs, and Doozers. (Which there is an element of truth to, in the sense we never would have been so bold with white Christian puppets.)

In American, there is freedom of religion. There is a separation of church and state. However, I’m sure there aren’t many nations that stay occupied with it less. I have heard my entire life, mostly in the south, that we have lost our way and we need to get back to America’s original Christian values. Many Americans believe that the country was founded by Christians, rather than deist humanists. (Because our education system sucks, another nice thing about America.)

For the record, if there are any Fraggles that read this, I don’t want to deter you. All I am saying is you must realize that it is going to be hard to assimilate into the culture if you move into a place that is 98% Baptist, 75% white, 0% Fraggle and 56% of people suspect you of being a car-bomber in waiting.

There are many places in America that would be a great place to live as a Fraggle, but you should think before you set up housekeeping and build a dreamsharing center. One should check out all the options before making a firm decision on where to spend the rest of their life.

Columbia, Tennessee… Seriously? Not even Marjory The Trash Heap would want to live there.

Grover Cleveland Alexander

Grover Cleveland Alexander was born in Elba, Nebraska, on February 26, 1887 during the first term of U.S. President Grover Cleveland. He was one of thirteen children, and it has been rumored that he learned to pitch as a small child by throwing rocks at birds. Alexander would go on to pitch in the Major Leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938.

Cleveland's career began when he signed his first professional contract at age 20 in 1907 for $50 per month. He had a good first season, but his career was almost ended when he was struck by a thrown ball while base running. He remained unconscious for two days after the incident, and upon waking up he suffered from double vision. By the 1910 season, Grover was fully recovered and become a star pitcher again. He was then sold to the Philadelphia Phillies for $750.

Alexander made his official Major League debut on April 15, 1911 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

In his rookie year, Alexander led the league with 28 wins, 31 complete games, 367 innings pitched, and seven shutouts, while finishing second in strikeouts and fourth in ERA. From 1912 to 1920, Alexander led the league in ERA, wins, complete games, and shutouts five times. Innings pitched and strikeouts six times. He won pitching's elusive Triple Crown in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1920.

After the 1917 season, the Phillies sold Alexander to the Cubs because Phillies owner William Baker, “needed the money". Because of the United States involvement in World War I, Alexander spent most of the 1918 season in France as an artillery officer, where he suffered from shell shock, partial hearing loss, and increasingly worse seizures.

Alexander, who grew up in a family of alcoholics, and was always a drinker himself, hit the bottle particularly hard after the war. He still managed to give Chicago several successful seasons despite his drinking. By 1926 the Cubs finally had enough of his increasing alcoholism and insubordination, and sold him to the Cardinals in the middle of the 1926 season.

Grover Cleveland Alexander's arrival in St Louis would help the Cardinals win the National League pennant. Alexander and the Cardinals would go on to meet the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Alexander, now 39, hardened and grizzled by a life on the road and constant drinking, would go on to pitch complete game victories in Games 2 and 6. The game six victory enabled the Cardinals to tie up the series and force a game 7. Jesse Haines started the game for the Cardinals but was forced to leave the game in the seventh inning due to nasty blister. When Haines was removed from the game the Cardinals had a 3-2 lead, but the Yankees had the bases loaded with two outs. Alexander was called in to face Yankee slugger Tony Lazzeri. Alexander managed to strike him out and then held the Yankees scoreless for two more innings to preserve the win and give the Cardinals the championship.

Grover had one last 20-win season for the Cardinals in 1927, but his heavy drinking finally ended his career in 1930. Alexander would go on to be elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY in 1938. He died on November 4, 1950 in St. Paul, Nebraska at the age of 63 from heart failure.

In 1952 the biographical film The Winning Team about the life of Alexander was released. Ronald Reagan played Grover Cleveland Alexander in what baseball commentator Bill James called "an awful movie, a Reader's Digest movie, reducing the events of Alexander's life to a cliché."

In 1999, he ranked number 12 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Willie Keeler

K is for Keeler,

As fresh as green paint,
The fastest and mostest
To hit where they ain't.

-Ogden Nash

William Henry Keeler was born on March 3, 1872 in Brooklyn, New York, and played professional baseball from 1892 to 1910. At 5' 7”, Wee Willie, as he was nicknamed, holds the distinction of being one of the shortest players in the history of professional baseball. Keeler also has the distinction of being one of the best hitters to play the game as well.

From 1892 to 1910 Keeler played for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Superbas, and the New York Highlanders, which would later become the Yankees. As arguably the best hitter in the league at the time, Keeler used to advise other hitters to, “Keep your eye clear, and hit 'em where they ain't”.

Keeler began the 1897 season with a 44-game hitting streak, beating out the previous single season record of 42, set by Bill Dahlen. Since Keeler had a hit in his final game of the 1896 season, he set a National League record with a 45-game hitting streak. In 1942 this mark was broken by Joe DiMaggio, who compiled a 56-game hitting streak, which is a record that many in baseball feel may never be broken. In 1978, Pete Rose tied Keeler's single season mark of 44 games. No other player in baseball has ever matched this feat. Keeler also set the record for consecutive seasons with 200 hits or more with eight, which was finally broken by Ichiro Suzuki on September 13, 2009, when he recorded his 200th hit for the 9th consecutive season.

Keeler would finish his baseball career with a .341 batting average, 2,932 hits, and 1,719 runs scored. His 2,932 hits was second all-time at the time of his retirement in 1910. William Keeler passed away January 1, 1923 in Brooklyn New York. He is interred at Calvary Cemetary in Queens, New York.

Willie Keeler would be posthumously be elected into the Major League Hall of Fame in 1939. Keeler would also appear on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, where he ranked number 75. Then in 1999, Willie was named as a finalist to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Having played his last game in 1910, he was the most chronologically distant player on both Top 100 lists.

Bob Gibson

"Bob Gibson was so mean he would knock you down and then meet you at home plate to see if you wanted to make something of it."

-Dick Allen

Pack Robert "Bob" Gibson was one of the greatest, and by far the most intimidating pitchers in the history of Major League baseball. Gibson was born on November 9, 1935 in Omaha, Nebraska, three months after the death of his father. During his childhood, Bob suffered from asthma, pneumonia, rickets, and a heart murmur, and despite this he still played basketball and baseball through his youth, then at Tech High School, later receiving a basketball scholarship to Creighton University.

Gibson's professional athletic career began in 1957 when he signed a contract with the St Louis Cardinals which earned him a $3,000 bonus. Bob though, put the start of his major league career on hold for a year electing to play basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters, earning himself the nickname "Bullet" Bob Gibson during his time with the team. In 1958 he left the Globetrotters, even tough he was one of the teams most popular players, because he grew tired of the clowning around. Bob spent 1958 pitching for the Cardinals AAA affiliate in Omaha, rising up to the majors in 1959.

In 1962, Bob Gibson would post the first of his nine 200 strikeout season, but it was from 1963-1970 that Gibson was quite possibly the most dominating pitcher in the game, posting a record of 156-81 during that span. Gibson was also awarded, Cy Young Awards in 1968 and 1970, World Series MVP Awards in 1964 and 1967 and 8 Gold Glove Awards.

1968 was the year of Bob Gibson. He would finish the season with an incredible 1.12 ERA, 13 shutouts, and at one point a streak of 47 consecutive scoreless innings. Due to a weak Cardinals offense that season he would only post a 22-9 record, losing five 1-0 decisions. The Cardinals would go on to face the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series. In Game 1 of the series, Gibson struck out 17 Tigers, setting a World Series single game record that has yet to be broken. The Cardinals would unfortunately go on to lose the Series 4 games to 3.

Bob Gibson would go on to have another big year in 1971. On August 4, he beat the San Francisco Giants to earn his 200th career win, and on the 14th of August, he threw a no hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out the great Willie Stargell three times.

The last great milestone of Bob Gibson's career happened on July 17th, 1974 when he struck out Cesar Geronimo earning Gibson his 3,000th career strikeout. Coincidently, Geronimo would also become the 3,000th career strikeout of Nolan Ryan in 1980. Gibson would continue to pitch for a few more years, before retiring after the 1975 season.

In 1981 Bob Gibson had his #45 retired by the St. Louis Cardinals which coincided with his election to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Even with retirement and all the accolades, Bob Gibson's competitive nature continued. In 1992, Bob pitched at an Old-Timers game in San Diego during the All-Star Game festivities, allowing a home run to Reggie Jackson. The next year at the game, Gibson was on the mound and Jackson was at the plate. This time Gibson threw a brush back pitch at Jackson. Though, he didn't hit Jackson, Gibson made his point, and Jackson would not get a hit off of him that year.

Stan "The Man" Musial

"No man has ever been a perfect ballplayer. Stan Musial, however, is the closest to being perfect in the game today....He plays as hard when his club is away out in front of a game as he does when they're just a run or two behind."

-Ty Cobb writes about Musial in a 1952 Life magazine article

Stan Musial was born Stanisław Franciszek Musiał on November 21, 1920 in Donora, Pennsylvania. He was the fifth of six children born to Lukasz and Mary Musial.

Stan began playing baseball at the age of 15 when he joined the Donora Zincs, semi-professional baseball club which was managed by ex-minor leaguer Joe Barbao, who was a neighbor of the Musial's. Musial began his career as a pitcher and in his first game he tossed six innings, striking out thirteen batters. In 1937 the St. Louis Cardinals, who had been scouting Musial as a pitcher, offered him a professional contract. In 1938 Stan joined the Cardinal's class D team in Williamson, Virginia.

Musial finished the 1938 season with a 6-6 record and a .258 batting average for the Williamson team. Between the 1938 and 1939 seasons Musial returned to Donora and completed his high school education, then joined Williamson in the spring where he went on to post a 9-2 record, 4.30 ERA, and a .352 batting average for the 1939 season.

Musial spent the 1940 season with the Cardinals' Class D team in Daytona Beach, Florida. During this season, Musial began playing the outfield between pitching starts. On May 25, 1940, Musial married fellow Donora resident Lillian "Lil" Labash in Daytona Beach. Stan and Lil would welcome their first child in August 1940. Late in the 1940 season, Musial suffered a shoulder injury while playing in the outfield, that would essentially end his pitching career. In 113 games that season, Musial hit .311, and compiled an 18-5 pitching record, including 176 strikeouts and 145 walks.

Musial was assigned to the Class AA Columbus, Ohio team to begin 1941, but was soon reassigned to Class C Springfield, Missouri as a full time outfielder, when the extent of Musial's shoulder injury from the season prior, revealed he would no longer be an effective pitcher. During 87 games with Springfield, Musial hit a league-leading .379, before being promoted to the International League team in Rochester, New York. Stan continued to hit well, including 11 hits in a three-game stretch. Musial was called up to the St. Louis Cardinals for the last two weeks of the 1941 season.

Musial began 1942 as the starting left fielder, and finished the season with a .315 batting average and 72 RBIs in 140 games, Musial received national publicity in September when St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor J. Roy Stockton named Musial as his choice for Rookie of the Year in a Saturday Evening Post article. The Cardinals went on to play the New York Yankees in the 1942 World Series. And though Musial's numbers weren't impressive, he did have a few key hits that helped the Cardinals win the series four games to one.

Musial was selected to his first All-Star Game in 1943 and finished the regular season leading the National League in hits (220), doubles (48), triples (20), total bases (347), on-base percentage (.425), and slugging percentage (.562). This performance earned him his first National League Most Valuable Player award. The Cardinal's went on to play the Yankees in the World Series, but 1943 would be the Yankees year.

The realities of World War II began to encroach on Musial's baseball career in 1944, he ultimately remained with the Cardinals for the entire season as The Cardinals claimed the National League pennant for the third consecutive season. The Cardinals went on to face the St. Louis Browns in the 1944 World Series, defeating them in six games, with Musial posting a .304 batting average for the Series.

Stan Musial entered the United States Navy on January 23, 1945, and was initially assigned to non-combat duty at the Naval Training Station in Bainbridge, Maryland. On ship repair duty at Pearl Harbor later in the year, Musial was able to play baseball every afternoon in the naval base's eight-team league. After being granted emergency leave to see his ailing father in January 1946, Musial spent a brief time assigned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard before being honorably discharged from the Navy in March

Musial rejoined the Cardinals for the 1946 season. It was during this season that Musial acquired his nickname of the "The Man." During the June 23 game against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Bob Broeg heard Dodger fans chanting whenever Musial came to bat, Broeg asked Cardinals traveling secretary Leo Ward what the Dodger fans had been chanting. Ward said that, "Every time Stan came up they chanted, 'Here comes the man!'" "'That man,' you mean," Broeg said. "No, the man," replied Ward.

1948 was the pinnacle of Stan Musial's career. During the season he collected his 1,000^th career hit, and would go on to lead the league in all most every major hitting category. At seasons end, Musial was one home run shy of sharing the league lead. It's also important to point out that Musial had two home runs taken away during the course of the season. One during a rained out game and the second was wrongly ruled a two-base hit by umpire Frank Dascoli.

Stan Musial would spend the rest of his baseball career collecting every award and reaching ever milestone imaginable, including collecting his 3,000^th hit on May 13^th 1958. Musial finally retired at the end of the 1963 season. He would go on to have his number 6 retired by the Cardinals, a statue erected outside of Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and be elected into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

Satchel Paige

"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."

-Satchel Paige.

Leroy "Satchel" Paige was born in Mobile, Alabama to John and Lula Page, possibly on July 7, 1906. The date of his birth is subject to speculation due to a lack of a birth certificate and Paige's own reluctance to directly answer any questions on the subject. His mother would change the spelling of the families last name from Page to Paige after John Page deserted the family when Satchel was young.

There are two stories as to how the young Leroy Paige earned the nickname "Satchel". His childhood friend Wilbur Hines says he gave the nickname to Paige when the two would go down to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad station and carry people's bags for money. Hines stated that Paige got caught trying to steal one of the bags and that's why he gave him the nickname Satchel. Paige's version is very different. He claims that he earned the nickname because he could carry more bags and made more tips than anyone else.

Satchel learned to pitch while at the Industrial School for Negro Children by Edward Byrd, who helped him refine his raw talent by teaching him the mechanics of pitching. After his release, he joined the semi pro Mobile Tigers in 1923.

In 1926 Paige was signed to a $50 a week contract by the Chattanooga Black Lookouts. Though he played sparingly in 1926, he was given $200 a month and a Ford model A by the Black Lookouts in 1927. A few games into the season he left the Lookouts, and signed with the Birmingham Black Barons for $276 a month.

For almost twenty years, Satchel was the most dominate pitcher in the Negro Leagues. In 1933 alone, he threw, 64 consecutive scoreless innings, had twenty-one straight wins, and finished the season with a 31-4 record. Yet, despite all his success, his ultimate goal was to pitch in the Majors.

From 1926 -1947 Satchel Paige would pitch for fourteen different teams in the United States, Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. His life in baseball one lead Paige to quip, "I ain't ever had a job, I just always played baseball."

"The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second class citizen to a second class immortal." Major League Baseball had been segregated during the entire modern era and that wouldn't change until 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the color barrier. Though Satchel Paige was deeply hurt that he wasn't selected to be the first African American to play in the majors, he took it in stride. Then in 1948 he would get his chance to play in the big show, against players he'd been barnstorming and playing in charity games with for over a decade.

In 1948 Satchel Paige would become the oldest rookie in Major League baseball history when he pitched for the Cleveland Indians at the age of 41. In his first year, he helped Cleveland win the pennant. In 1952 and 1953 he would represent the St. Louis Browns at the All Star game. Satchel would go on to pitch in the big leagues until 1965. In his last game he tossed three shutout innings for the Kansas City Athletics. He finished his time in the Majors with a 28-31 record and a 3.29 ERA. Satchel would be elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1971. He died on June 8, 1982.

Paige was one of the most talented and interesting players in the history of baseball. He once famously said, "Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."

The Demise of Rock

How can a state of mind die? And if it can, who's to blame?

The attitude of Rock and Roll is truly a fundamental part of American cultural that its death is nearly impossible. We live it, breath it, use it as a soundtrack or our lives. The essence and attitude of rock has even eclipsed its own genre, spreading to all styles, genres and sub-genres of music. When music writers and bloggers waste column space with the tired old debate of whether or not rock is dead, what they're really mourning isn't the death of a style of music or an attitude, but the end of their own youth and their ability to relate to what is currently happening. Yeah, I'm looking at you Rolling Stone, you've become everything you always swore you wouldn't, just like your parents

How many times have we heard someone say, "back in the day the music really meant something. It was so much better than the stuff out now." Honestly, it wasn't. It just happened to be what you identified with at a certain magical time in your life. Just as the kids today are into whatever is currently the latest trend in rock. This is a phenomenon that will continue on and on as long as there are people creating new versions of popular culture for the masses to embrace and make their own.

Gentle reader, if you are unwilling to embrace the fact that you've gotten old and you can't relate to the latest trends, here is something for you to mull over. One could say that the rock and roll you love, still listen to, and that brings back many wonderful memories, is just the rotting corpse of an ideal that died long ago and keeps coming back hungry for your money.

One could make the that rock and roll died the moment Elvis Presley recorded his first song, taking an established genre of music and whitewashing for a middle class consumer with money to spend. It could also be argued that when a few flinty eyed business men in the mid 1960's realized that they could make millions off rock and roll, the spirit itself died, and when Led Zeppelin formed it was the final nail in the coffin, because after them the business of rock and roll became a gross and gluttonous tribute to excess.

Despite all of this, the spirit of rock, its true meaning, the humble foundation from which it was built, is still alive and well and pissing people off. As long as there are kids with dreams, guitars, and the desire to be rock and roll stars, it will live on forever

Godard: Fraud, Cinema, and The New Wave

“Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world.”

                  - Jean-Luc Godard.

When the French New Wave launched itself upon what had become a complacent world of movies, the very nature of cinema would be changed forever. One of the figures at the forefront of this movement was Jean-Luc Godard, who would become one of the major influences of filmmakers in the later half of the 20th century.

Jean-Luc Godard was born on December 3, 1930 in an elegant Parisian neighborhood but would spend most of his childhood living with his family in Switzerland. Then in 1946, Godard moved to Paris to study engineering at the Lycee Buffon. It was at this time that Godard began to focus less on his studies and devout himself to his love of film. In 1949 he began frequenting the single most important place to see films in postwar Paris, the Cinematheque Francaise.

In June of 1950 in the magazine La Gazette du Cinema, Jean-Luc Godard, would make his debut as a writer with a short article on director Joseph Mankiewicz. Over the next ten years, Jean-Luc Godard would work tiressly on perfecting his theories and philosophies on cinema. The seeds had been planted and revolution was about to spring forth

The world of Hollywood moving making had grown stale and too formulaic. The ways of old Hollywood studio system were about to be burned to the ground, the barbarians were at the gate. What Bob Dylan did to change the art of song writing, Jean-Luc Godard would do for film-making and he made his intentions known with his first feature, Breathless.

Released in 1959, A Bout De Souffle (Breathless), though not the first "New Wave" film is consider by many critics to be the quintessential film of the movement. At the time of the films release Sight and Sound magazine called it 'the group's intellectual manifesto'. . . It's loose style, use of rough jump cuts, and use of a hand held camera as well as its rebellious nature and attitude would make it one of the biggest influences of the American independent cinema that was to come.

Through most of the 1960's Jean-Luc Godard would continue making revolutionary pieces of cinematic art. Most of these monumental works would star his then wife, the beautiful Anna Karina. These films include Le Petit Soldat(The Little Soldiers), which was band in France for its depiction of torture used by both the French and Algerians during the Algerian War. Une Femme est Une Femme (A Woman Is A Woman), which was Godard's tribute to American musicals. Vivre Sa Vie(Her Life to Live), and Bande a Part (Band of Outsiders). Another important Godard film of this period was Le Mepris (Contempt), which starred Bridget Bardot, and is consider by some to be Godard finest all around film.

By the mid-sixties the political climate in France was chaotic and this would influence the direction of Godard's film-making. In films like Pierrot Le Fou, Masculine Feminine, La Chinoise, and Weekend, Godard's personal-political philosophies would be at the forefront. It was also during this period that tensions would grow between he and fellow director Francois Truffaut, critics and audiences began to dismiss Godard and the rest of the 'New Wave', and Godard would he himself break from the very thing he helped create in order to follow his own muse.

Jean-Luc Godard continues to make high quality artistic cinema in spite of the fact he is approaching the age of eighty. In the decades that followed his period of revolution in the late sixties and early seventies, Godard continued on changing the form and style of cinema. From documentaries to experiments with home movie making, Godard had never ceased to confound and provoke audiences and critics. For him, anything short would have been a disappointment.

German Expressionist Film

German Expressionist Cinema was a short lived movement in film that occurred in a post World War I climate, peaking in Berlin in the 1920's. Though various forms of Expressionism were coinciding throughout Europe at this time, the Expressionist movement in Germany had its own distinct traits and influences. The filmmakers of the German Universum Film AG developed their own distinct style through use of symbolism and mise-en-scene to add mood and depth to their films. The major films of the era were, The Student of Prague (1920), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Golem (1920), Destiny (1921), Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), and Metropolis (1927).

The horror of World War I left the people of Germany in a state of desperate poverty and psychologically scarred. The films of the German Expressionist school tapped into that, with plots that dealt with madness and other dark themes in a highly stylized and symbolic way. Since the German studios had little to offer filmmakers in the way of a budget, the directors of the movement took this opportunity to freely experiment in an attempt to compete with the films that were coming out of Hollywood. The most notable of these experiments came in the form of the films visual statements. The films of the German Expressionist period, were dynamic and wildly non-realistic, with sets made of odd, geometrically shaped buildings, paint used on floors and walls as symbolic representations of darkness, light, objects, and shadows, leaving the actors to appear to be performing in the three dimensional painting as opposed to a stage set typical of the Hollywood films of the era.

Historically, two major genres of cinema were influenced by German Expressionism. First being the horror film, particularly the Universal Studios classic monster films of the 1930's. and the second being Film Noir . The influence upon the early horror genre is more obvious and direct. When the Nazi Party rose to power in the 1930's most of the directors and producers fled Germany for the United States, seeking employment with the various Hollywood Studios. Karl Freund, who was a talented German filmmaker of the era, worked as the cinematographer on Tod Browning's Dracula (1931) which would be the essential introduction of the visual style of German Expressionism to the U.S. movie going public and would set the tone and style for the rest of the Universal monster movies of the 1930's.

Film Noir took a more subtle approach to the influence of German Expressionism. Film Noir, particularly the sub genre of the crime film, would embrace the darkness of expressionism and the plot themes more so than the visual styles and use of symbolism. Filmmakers like Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, and others, would infuse their films with techniques learned from Expressionism.

The influence of German Expressionism would continue on through the decades. From films like

Ridley Scott's. Blade Runner, to the films of Tim Burton. The strong influence of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) on Batman Returns (1992) can be found both in both the visual representation of Gotham City and the use of the name Max Schrek, as the evil character portrayed by Christopher Walken in the film. Max Schrek was the name of the actor who played the vampire in Nosferatu (1922). But German Expressionism's greatest influence on Tim Burton can be scene in his film Edward Scissorhands (1990). In the film Burton cast Johnny Depp in the role of Edward, a character who is a visual tribute to Caligari's somnambulist servant. In the film, Burton borrowed themes from German Expressionism and modern Hollywood films and retold the story recasting Edward, the outsider, as the hero and the townspeople as the villains.

Richard Brautigan's Ghost

It was fifteen years after Richard Brautigan's suicide that I first read the words he left behind. I was a junior in college and had, yet again, skipped another class in order to continue my private education, and begin writing the poems that would make up my own book, Love Is A Ghost Thing. On the recommendation of a creative writing teacher, Rocky Marcus, I decided to spend an afternoon reading Brautigan's, Trout Fishing In America.

After the initial shock and wonder that a work of such playful ingenuity, of such satirical importance was virtually unknown to everyone I knew, I sat down in a comfortable chair and took in the comedy. I felt like I was reading page after page of a boy in short pants thumbing his nose at the literary establishment, and I was loving every minute of the ride.

In short succession, I would read through the poems, stories, and novels. A Confederate General From Big Sur and his detective novel, Dreaming of Babylon, being my two favorite works. Through most of my early years of writing, I felt I was walking in the awkward footsteps of this lanky man-child.

For the next ten years, I periodically read and reread Brautigan's works always finding some new joke or vision that I had somehow missed in my previous readings. But for some reason I never looked into the life of the man, instead I created a brilliant fantasy life for Mr. Brautigan and the women he appeared on the covers of his books with, and of course his dalliances with Ben Franklin and Trout Fishing In America Railroad Shorty.

I had read about Richard Brautigan's suicide in the author's blurb in the back of Trout Fishing In America. It's the last thing in the book, just before the word “mayonnaise” appears on the back cover. I never gave it too much thought though, just another writer and another tragic end. I'm still not sure what compelled me, perhaps it was my own feelings of being disconnected and unappreciated, but one night not to long ago I did a little research into the life of Richard Brautigan.

Given the tragedy of his early life, including an absentee father, a neglectful mother, a series of abusive step fathers, all the while living in extreme poverty in various places throughout the Pacific Northwest, his childlike escapist stories and poems make sense. It was like Lawrence Ferlinghetti once said of Brautigan, "As an editor I was always waiting for Richard to grow up as a writer. It seems to me he was essentially a naif, and I don't think he cultivated that childishness, I think it came naturally. It was like he was much more in tune with the trout in America than with people."1

1. Manso, Peter and Michael McClure. "Brautigan's Wake." Vanity Fair, May 1985: 62-68, 112-116.

Arthur Rimbaud: The Legacy of The Visionary Poet

“The poet makes himself into a seer by a long, involved and logical derangement of all the senses.”

When the seventeen-year-old Arthur Rimbaud wrote the above line in a letter to Paul Demeny dated May 15, 1871, he had already fully committed himself to being a visionary poet. Like William Blake and Charles Baudelaire before him, Rimbaud believed that the true quest of the poet was to obtain the unknown. And like Baudelaire and the shamans of indigenous cultures around the world, Rimbaud believed that gate between the known and unknown could be unlocked with the use of various rituals and drugs.

“It doesn't matter if these leaps into the unknown kill him: other awful workers will follow him; they'll start at the horizons where the other had fallen!”

Arthur Rimbaud's visionary quest ended in 1874 at the ripe old age of twenty, not from his own destruction as he had romanticized, but by his total abandonment of poetry. In 1875, Rimbaud, now living in Stuttgart, handed the poet and his ex-lover, Paul Verlaine, his final manuscript, which Verlaine would later work to get published under the title 'Illuminations'. After that, Rimbaud severed all ties he had to the literary world.

The mythic persona and writings of Arthur Rimbaud have been a major influence on art and the counter- culture since the time of his death in 1891. Writers such as Dylan Thomas, Vladamir Nabokov, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, JD Salinger, and Henry Miller all cited Rimbaud as a major influence on their lives and writings. In 1956, Henry Miller published The Time of The Assassins: A Study of Rimbaud.

Even more than writers, Rimbaud has been cited as being a major influence on musicians. When Bob Dylan shed his Woody Guthrie folk hero persona, he adopted that of a rock and roll Rimbaud. The lyrics of his songs turned away from social protest and became lengthy, hallucinatory songs that were carried by strong imagery and clever wit, much like the poetry of Rimbaud. Other musicians such, as Patti Smith, Jim Morrison, The Clash, Courtney Love, Frou Frou, Manic Street Preachers, and Richard Hell have also, in one way or another, paid tribute to the influence Arthur Rimbaud has had on them.

The cinema has also felt the presence of Arthur Rimbaud. In 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio starred as Arthur Rimbaud in the film Total Eclipse. Director Jean-Luc Godard made reference to Rimbaud in his films, Bande a Part, and Pierrot Le Fou. In 2007, Todd Haynes' film, I'm Not There, which was a symbolic biographical film about the life of Bob Dylan, had a character named Arthur Rimbaud, who was played by Ben Whishaw, and was meant to represent Dylan's own Rimbaudian period.

Amongst the poets, there will always be a rebel. And in the case of Rimbaud the myth of him as poet and rebel has grown to the point of continuing to influence the generations that have followed him, just as he had hoped.       

Albert & David Maysles: Direct Cinema

“We have built our reputation by confronting the actual world.”

The above quote came from a letter penned by Albert and David Maysles to the New York Times. The Maysles brothers were a documentary film making team the made what they called, Direct Cinema, which has been described as the cinematic equivalent of a non-fiction novel. The brothers David and Albert, along with the partner Charlotte Zwerin made over twenty films of the course of two decades.

Albert was born on November, 26, 1926 in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1949 he graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelors degree in psychology. He would receive a masters degree from Boston University, where he would later teach. In 1955 Albert made his first documentary entitled Psychiatry in Russia. Albert was once called “the best American cameraman” by Jean-Luc Godard. In 2001 Albert received the Sundance Film festival's Excellence in Cinematography Award for his lensing of LaLee's Kin: Legacy of Cotton.

David Maysles, who was born in Brookline, Mass on January 10, 1931 and died January 23, 1987 in New York of a stroke, teamed up with his brother for the first time in 1962. The Maysles brothers, along with various partners and contributors played an important role in the development of the cinema verite style of documentary film making. Some of the key films they made together include, Salesman (1968), which follows four traveling salesman as they try to sell expensive bibles in low income neighborhoods throughout New England and Florida. Gimme Shelter (1970), is a documentary amount the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway. The film and the concert itself, can be viewed as a symbolic end of the 1960's. It is also famous for having captured on film the stabbing of an African American concert goer by members of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. Grey Gardens (1976), is the story of Big and Little Edith Beale, who were the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and their reclusive lives living in squalor in their dilapidated East Hampton mansion known as Grey Gardens. The Maysles brothers 1964 film on the Beatles originally titled What's Happening! The Beatles Visit America, which forms the backbone of the DVD The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit, can be viewed as the beginning of the 1960's and is a complimentary piece to Gimme Shelter.

The Maysles brothers film making partnership ended with David's death at the age of 54, but Albert continues to make films and contribute to their legacy. In 2005, Albert founded the Maysles Institute, which is a nonprofit organization that provides training and apprenticeships to underprivileged people. Also in 2005, Albert was given a lifetime achievement award at the Czech film festival, AFO (Academia Film Olomouc). Currently, he is working on an autobiographical documentary.

Charles Mingus: The Underdog Triumphs

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”

                          -Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus recorded over one hundred albums and wrote three hundred scores during his lifetime, making him one of the most prodigious jazz composers since Duke Ellington. His contributions to jazz and music in general are vast, passionate, and complex. Though all of Mingus' recordings were part of a musical evolution, the albums Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956), Mingus Ah Um (1959), Mingus Dynasty (1959), Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963), and Let My Children Hear My Music (1972), contain his most compelling and brilliant recordings.

Pithecanthropus Erectus was released in 1956 on Atlantic Records. The title track of the album tells the tale of the rise and fall of man, do in part to his own arrogance, in the form of a ten minute experimental tone poem, featuring a section that is completely free of structure or theme. The song is considered a precursor for the experiments in composition that would come along with the free jazz movement of the 1960's.

Mingus Ah Um and Mingus Dynasty were both released by Columbia records in 1959 are high points of Mingus' creative powers. The compositions on Mingus Ah Um, all but one written by Mingus, pay strong tribute to to Charles' musical forefathers, including Lester Young (Goodbye Pork Pie Hat), Duke Ellington (Open Letter to Duke), and Jelly Roll Morton (Jelly Roll). Mingus Ah Um is a gritty blues based album featuring Better Get Hit In Your Soul and the outwardly political Fables of Faubus. The version on the album is instrumental because Columbia Records wouldn't release the original version that contained inflammatory lyrics that attacked the Segregationist Governor of Arkansas Orval Faubus for using the National Guard to prevent the integration of Little Rock Central High School. The song, with full lyrics was recorded two years later as Original Faubus Fables, for the album Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus which was released on the independent Candid Label. Mingus Ah Um was chosen for the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2003.

Mingus Dynasty was the follow-up album to Mingus Ah Um. It is for this reason that the album tends to get overlooked. Both albums are steeped in Mingus' roots. Blues, gospel, the rhythms of prayer meetings, mixed with Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, and Mingus' own powerful vision. Many of the songs on the album were composed for film and television in the wake of the success of Mingus Ah Um. In 1999, Mingus Dynasty was in inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is an impassioned, multi-textured six part suite, written as a ballet. Mingus created a unique orchestral style that he called, “ethnic folk dance music”, while giving a nod to Ellington and various Latin musical styles in the composition. Though the music has a deep emotional range, the pieces never meander or lose any potency. Every note of every movement is powerful and felt with intensity Mingus intended. The liner notes for Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, were written by Mingus and a psychiatrist who treated him at Bellevue, and are dance between clinical observation and uncertain ramblings. The album is consider by jazz critics and fans alike to be in the top ten of greatest jazz albums of all time.

When Charles Mingus released Let My Children Hear My Music in 1972, he was past his prime and still struggling with the most complex composition of his life, “Epitaph”, which had collapsed under its own brilliance when it was hastily debuted in 1964. At the time of it's release, Mingus called Let My Children Hear My Music, “the best album I have ever made.” The denseness, strength, and sheer ambition of the album makes it feel like a return to the glory of the mid 50's through early 60's.

Charles Mingus worked tirelessly to push the boundaries of jazz with innovative compositions and a rotating roster of musicians including some of the most skilled and cutting edge in jazz, like Jaki Byard, Dannie Richmond, John Handy, Eric Dolphy, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Mingus' greatest musical legacy and his genius was finally fully realized, ten years after he died from ALS. In 1989, with the help of conductor Gunther Schuller and a thirty piece orchestra, Charles Mingus' opus Epitaph was performed in its entirety for the first time to rave reviews.

Elia Kazan

"A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people."

-Elia Kazan.


That sense of desperation and struggle is a strong and on-going theme in the classic films of Elia Kazan's ouevre. From On the Waterfront to A Streetcar Named Desire to East of Eden and A Face in The Crowd, Kazan's films were driven by strife and characters acting and reacting in a state of desperation. Kazan himself said it best, "I was an outsider . . . but I was always sympathetic with people that were struggling to get up, because I struggled to get up."

Elia Kazan was born Elias Kazanjoglou to a Greek family living in Turkey on September 7, 1909. In 1913 his family immigrated to New York were his father George established his own rug business. Kazan would attend a variety of public schools in New York City and New Rochelle, New York, eventually studying drama at Yale University's School of Drama. It was in the 1930's that Elia Kazan became a member of two groups that would define the rest of his life. First, and most importantly, Kazan became a member of New York's Group Theatre where he would act alongside the likes of, Lee Strasberg, Clifford Odetts, and Stella and Luther Adler. Although, there was no way of knowing it at the time, Kazan's nineteen month involvement with the Communist Party from 1934-1936, would also have an enormous impact on his life later down the down.

By the early 1940's Kazan was one of the most prominent members of New York's theater community after having directed such plays as, The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) and One Touch Venus (1944). Kazan would have his most success near the end of the 1940's into the 1950's when he would gone on to direct, two Arthur Miller penned plays, All My Sons (1947) and Death of A Salesman (1949) and two Tennessee Williams plays, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1955).

It was also during this period that Elia Kazan would make his mark in Hollywood. In 1947 Kazan won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Gentleman's Agreement. In 1951 he introduced the film going public to Marlon Brando in his highly regarded performance as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. He and Brando worked togther again in 1954's On The Waterfront which earned both Kazan and Brando Oscars. In 1955 Kazan would yet again introduce the public to another icon when he cast James Dean in his first lead role. He played Cal Trask in what would be the first of three films he starred in before his death at the age of twenty-four.

1952 would prove to be a difficult and ultimately life altering year for Elia Kazan. After first refusing requests to testify to the House Un-American Activities Comitte (HUAC), which was headed by Senator Joseph McCarthy, Kazan aquiesced, and appeared before the comittee to discuss his past involvement with the Communist Party. During his testimony, Kazan named eight other past or present members of the Communist Party that he knew. It would later be revealed that all eight of the people he mentioned were already suspected fo having Communist sympathies by HUAC. Because of his cooperation with HUAC, Kazan earned many enemies in Hollywood, and when the Academy elected to honor Kazan with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, many celebrities and former blacklisted people in the business expressed a great outrage.

Despite the backlash, Kazan would continue to direct both films and theater until his retirement in 1976. During his career he would earn three Academy Awards, five Tony Awards, and countless other festival and critics awards. On September 28, 2003 Kazan died in New York at the age of 94.

Great Guitar Song.

In reality, it's impossible to name the greatest guitar song. It would be just as unlikely to come up with a top five for anything that is so completely dependent upon personal taste. That being said, I think there is a song that would be on everyone's top ten list after they heard it. The song is 'Machine Gun' by Jimi Hendrix.

There are two major recordings of this song available. Both are live, the first being from a New Years show at the Fillmore East 1969/1970. For this show Jimi was backed by the Band of Gypsys, which featured Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums. The second recording is an epic version, clocking in at twenty- two minutes. The intro alone is three and a half minutes. This recording is from the Isle of Wight Fesitival, Isle of Wight, England, September 1970. For this show he was backed by Billy Cox on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums.

Hendrix's two version of this song contain certain similar elements, but it's when we examine the stylistic differences that the true glory of the song comes to light.
One of the major differences between the two songs, is in the style of the drummers. At the Fillmore East show, Hendrix was backed by Buddy Miles, who's loose, deeply funky, driving style guides Jimi's guitar playing into a more sad, soulful direction. Hendrix sounds as if he's trying to comes to terms with the notion that there is no end to the tragedy of war in sight and in response he uses his guitar to try rip the universe in half.

Later in the year, Jimi would play the song with the newly reformed Experience, featuring Billy Cox on bass and the return of Mitch Mitchell on drums. Mitch's stylistic contribution to the song is to play in a more controlled, tighter, almost military style.

Even though Billy Cox plays bass on both versions his playing style varies as well. At the Fillmore East show, there are moments when Buddy Miles locks into a heavy funky rhythm and Jimi goes off on a riff, that Billy Cox is then able to find a serious groove that you can feel bouncing off the walls of The Fillmore. Where as in the Isle Wight recordings his bass playing is slightly more understated and less funky.

Another interesting difference between the two recordings is that during the Isle of Wight show, security announcements were made over the PA system during the song. This intrusion into Jimi's set adds an eerie military presence to the song that grounds the song and in a sense Jimi in the real world. He becomes a man frantically fighting for survival in the jungles of Vietnam.

Of course, most importantly, there is Jimi's guitar playing to consider. Many regard Hendrix as the greatest guitar player to ever live. 'Machine Gun' is the song in the Hendrix oeuvre that might make the strongest case for this argument. Jimi pulls out all the stops, unleashing all the apocalyptic fury that any human being can with a guitar. He makes the sounds of war, of life and death come screaming out of his Stratocaster until both he and the audience were emotionally drained, battered survivors.

Dock, LSD, and the No Hitter

Opening day of the Major League baseball season is approaching fast and I for one am very excited because this is by far one of my favorite times of year. I've decided to do something different to celebrate the 2009 season. From now until the end of the World Series I'm going to periodically post some of my favorite moments in baseball both of the past and things that may happen during this current season. My first posting is a tribute to the most interesting no hitter thrown in Major League history, I hope you enjoy.

Dock Phillip Ellis Jr. passed away on December 19, 2008 from a liver ailment brought on by cirrhosis. He had spent the last decades of his as a drug counselor. For twelve seasons, Dock was a Major League pitcher with five different teams, most notably the Pittsburgh Pirates, posting a career 138-119 record.

The myth of Dock Ellis now outweighs the life, as happens with anyone who commits a legendary act. On June 12, 1970, Dock pitched a no hitter against the San Diego Padres. What sets this no hitter apart from all others in Major League history, is that Dock was under the influence of LSD when he stepped upon the mound of Jack Murphy Stadium. Ellis would later recount the game fourteen years later.

“I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the catcher's glove, but I didn't hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times. The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. . .”

I didn't hear this story until I was nineteen or twenty, and by then I had already consumed a solid amount of LSD and other hallucinogens. I had also spent my entire childhood playing baseball, so to hear a man had actually played the game, let alone thrown a no hitter while under the influence was quite a revelation. Dock, in my mind, became a surreal icon, like Hendrix at Monterey playing his set on a head full of acid and then lighting his guitar on fire. What also makes this moment interesting is that it's a statement about a time in America. The grim reality of the Nixon years was seeping into the consciousness of most Americans and those that had bought into the rhetoric of the “love generation”were starting to get off the boat. But not Dock, he was letting his freak flag fly during one glorious night under a San Diego sky.