A mellow mood: Have You Seen The Seen?




                                                         Mellow Mood


Starting off again with a Norman Famous bass riff, this track slows things down a little.

"We're gonna put you in a mellow mood now. So get comfortable, chill out and let the music wash over you like a wave from the ocean of tranquility to the beach of memories not yet lost to the fog of time in time and on time." The MC then backed away from the mic, lit a cigarette and wandered over to the side of the stage. The moon rose above quiet city streets. Car thieves and swing shift workers heading home were the only humans around. Soft rain left a sheen on the asphalt. They say nothing exists if there's no one to see it. There is apparently a smoke shop in Portland called Mellow Mood.

"Have You seen The Seen" was my title. It was first "Have You Seen The Seine" because the original idea for Le Bonx to have a French theme for some reason. When that was abandoned I changed it to "Have You Seen The Scene" because maybe we were 50's beatniks, man. When that didn't work I changed it to "Seen" without a question mark. Existential. We wanted to break things up and keep it interesting, so despite the fact that we were making it up as we went along (with a little direction from me) each song is quite different from the others



As I said before, there were 4 Le Bonx sessions (I might have said 3 and if I did I was wrong) but the album features music from the first session only. Arlene is playing a Wurlitzer model 200A, an instrument very much in demand these days. Wish I still had it (or the Fender Rhodes that appears in the other sessions). There is apparently a coffee called Mellow Mood

This song features my first vocal appearance.

I worked in one of the first self-service gas stations. Amazingly, patrons would pump their gas then walk up to my little booth and pay. You didn't have to pay first - it was completely honor system. It would have been so easy to fill up and just drive away but no one ever did. That would never fly now. It would be like putting up a FREE GAS sign. It was 1972 and the most expensive gas was 35 cents a gallon. At the end of the night I'd put all the money in a coffee can and take it home. 

The Mellow Mood Chickens were a vocal trio popular in 60's.
 

Ah, The Mellow Mood Chickens. Flossie, Bossie and Tossie. I had all 3 of their albums. Flossie, the white chicken, was the lead singer and the other two provided the background harmony oohs, ahhs and clucks. Bossie and Tossie were jealous of Flossie who, as lead singer and perceived leader, got all the accolades. On their first album Down at the Henhouse (1964) lead vocals were evenly shared between the three but by the second, If I Could Fly (1965) Flossie was the center of attention. Nobody know how that happened but speculation at the time was that she and the group's manager, Rooster McRoost, were a "thing" and he pushed her up front. They broke up just after their third release, 1967's Scratchin' Gravel, due to tension within the group. Bossie and Tossie demanded equal time singing lead but McRoost wouldn't allow it. This led to them leaving to start their own group, The Chicken Band, while Flossie launched a solo career. Both endeavors were quite successful  and all three retired wealthy in the late 70's to raise their chicks and enjoy the peace and quiet of farm life. They have turned down many lucrative offers to reunite - most recently they were asked to perform at the annual Farm Aid concert put on by Neil Young and Willie Nelson, who both professed their love for The Mellow Mood Chickens. 




Kid's records used to be different colors. I had a yellow 45 called Mickey Mouse's Picture House. "Come one, come all and let's enjoy the movies. At Micky Mouse's picture House the curtain's going up" is all I remember of the lyrics. I still remember the melody, though. I think the song on the flip side was When I Grow Up Someday. I only remember "I may decide to be President - ha ha like that's all it takes. Well, I guess if you're rich enough. Half of the world's net wealth belongs to the top 1%. The top 30% control 97%. I guess some of them could "decide" to be President. The 5 richest men in the world more than doubled their wealth since the pandemic while pretty much every else got a little to a lot poorer. Those 5 guys (not the hamburger chain despite really good burgers and fries!) could end poverty and world hunger if they each wrote a check. The problem with that, of course, is that most of the money would be siphoned off before it reached the people who need it.  If that doesn't put you in a mellow mood I don't know what will.

I'll leave with that. Igloo for now, my friends.

                      "The faster go, the slower you go. The slower you go, the faster you go"




                                                        



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