Sittin' in the shade with a lemonade - Cosmic Anarchy

 "They laughed when I sat down at the piano"

                                The announcer yells: "..and here they are...THE BEATLES!!!"

It's raining and it's been raining and I'm tired of rain. I got tired of the drought, too, so there's no pleasing me. "Rain" is one of the best Beatles songs. It was written mainly, if not completely, by John and released as the flip side of "Paperback Writer" (written mostly, if not completely, by Paul). What a great single! The album it accompanied was Revolver. Talk about "at the top of their game"! Of course the Beatles were always at the top of their game - they just kept raising the bar. Ringo has said said that his drumming on "Rain" was his best ever. He certainly played more actively than on most of their records. I think his playing on "She Said She Said" is a little better -  wild 'n' crazy but a little more controlled. I think Ringo's drumming on Abbey Road is his best. The whole album.

Okay, so much for the Beatles. This ongoing collection of essays has slowed to a trickle because I've hit something of a roadblock. I'm trying to keep things more or less in chronological order. I've finished the songs (outtakes and all) of Won Out  but as I move on the mighty follow-up, Le Bonx, I'm finding that a lot of the visual aids (mainly pictures) have not been digitized. I had the same problem with the Won Out outtakes (Won Outakes?) but I was able to muddle through with help from by son. I need to learn a few more computer things before I can start yammering on about the album that brought my blossoming, promising career to a screeching halt.

                                                                      Pay attention!                             

Speaking of the Beatles (here he goes again), "Revolution 9" isn't nearly as random as some may think. Neither is Le Bonx. Today's track, "Cosmic Anarchy" is the first proper song we attempted. It starts off with Norman's two-note motif and then wanders into parts unknown. It's a deceptive little piece. As with all of the album's tracks the trick is to listen carefully and pick out the patterns and themes and that arise to lay the foundations for the improvising. This music is close to the bone. 3 (4 when I sing) individuals with varying levels of skill, coaxing sounds from their instruments that other more accomplished musicians couldn't hope to find. We discovered as we went along that if keeping them short and sweet made tracks more exciting, funny and interesting. If they got too long the effect became an affect and much less involving.

  Surviving members  of the Rat Pack were not interviewed for this article because there aren't any

Igloo.  

                                                           Like I said, igloo. Like I said. 

More stuff: I remember a sign with a sign by the side of the road advertising something. A gate that was closed and padlocked. A long dirt driveway. The house itself looked like a square glass spaceship that had landed years ago and become part of its surroundings. The ocean sounds like a freeway if you can't see it. Does the freeway sound like the ocean? Once while wandering around at Point Reyes I walked off the path and got lost. I found my way back by listening to the cars on the ocean.