[Len Upton]

Many gentlemen before you have struggled with this question, Tobias. Think of it as an existential dilemma, for which the answer is more like a key passing through various stages in life. At some point, the question will dissolve into a bright light, and you will pass into another realm of pure understanding.🙃

[Len Upton]

Just a reminder there is a Crosby, Stills and Nash feature in the What’s On the Table category. Clearly Mona and Lisa are familiar, as are we all, with one of the best, when it comes to harmonies.

[Len Upton]

If you raise your head, and you’re feeling particularly conspiratorial, you’re sure to find a bogeyman or two under every rock on the landscape. That’s not to say there isn’t the general cross section of bad apples, or less than perfect, humanly constructed, institutions out there. But it’s a bit of a stretch to assume that MLT, as song writers, are necessarily speaking specifically to libertarian pet peeves and biases. “You say you didn’t see that coming” and “You say that you don’t understand” are sufficiently ambiguous, that interpreting the lyrics can easily give credence to a variety of views. It is, after all, a big old, complicated world out there.

As a piece of satire though, I Bought Myself A Politician is much cleverer, skewering, as it does, virtually every public institution in the U.K. The clownish parade of Prime ministers passing in and out of 10 downing Street, all the while taking themselves oh so seriously, hilariously proves the point of the song.

Despite the hyperbole of the original premise, the story in Canada comes nowhere close to the definition of a tyranny, and if you’re going to make a fuss over something as innocuous as Covid 19 mask mandates, a relative comparison with other jurisdictions might be useful.

For example, the theologically challenged theocracy of Iran charges, and publicly executes, those who are currently making war against God. Other developing countries are known to dispense with the niceties of a charge altogether, and simply incarcerate indefinitely. China finds 98% of its citizens charged with a crime, guilty, and either incarcerates them, or sends them to a “re-education” facility, or both. Russia charges and incarcerates for 17 years, those who disagree with its “special military operation” and the Excited States has its 2nd civil war in slow motion, for all the world to see.

<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>If WHY? and If You Raise Your Head, are both about </font>general<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> consciousness, or legal, or political evolution, or environmental issues, the question remains, with 8 billion captive inhabitants, is there a definitive </font>timeline<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> to “get it right”?</font>

<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>Here are a couple of other MLT lyrics that seems to speak to the topic. They go back a few years now. “Life, give it a chance, you better not think </font>it’s always<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> coming up roses”, and “If life has a </font>meaning,<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> it’s a meaning that’s too mean to figure out”. Glass half full, or glass half empty?</font>

<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>Cheers everyone! </font>

[Len Upton]

Loreena and another person from a completely different musical genre (hippity hop/rap I think), were interviewed on CBC Television recently. The topic was the economic challenges of touring in these times. Loreena had come to the conclusion that touring across Canada, especially the Prairies, was not so viable considering expenses and distances between venues. Consequently, she was sticking to Ontario and Quebec for the time being, where, the many towns and cities have, and will have, the opportunity to see her for the first time in quite a while. Lucky Jeanette!

Bruce Cockburn, on the other hand, is giving it a try in a few weeks, with a 50th anniversary tour. Commencing in San Francisco, where he lives, the itinerary has him going up the coast to Vancouver, then east into the chilly wintery Prairies before dropping down into the American mid-west. This one not to miss. I’m hoping for full band. The songs already running around in my head. If A Tree Falls In The Forest, Lovers In A Dangerous Time, If I Had A Rocket Launcher, Waiting For A Miracle, among others. If someone was looking for a little politics in their lyrics, the songs of Bruce Cockburn are ones you might want to know about.

[Len Upton]

Hi Sara, and thanks for the topic.

I expect most of us know what we’ve missed in real life , because we’ve seen it on film, or YouTube, or DVD. For example, I’ve never seen Paul McCartney, but there is a marvelous example of Paul in concert on YouTube, several, actually. The one that is most awesome however, is Tokyo around 2012/2013. He makes show for about 2 1/2 hours, which gives you an idea of what he was/is capable of. Back in Beatles days, Paul was always the one who wanted to go back out on the road. The others, not so much. His bandmates, who hardly anybody remembers by name, have been with him for years, and deserve greater recognition. A consummate musical performer, he knows how to make show, with a repertoire that just keeps on giving.

For me, the other concert to die for is the memorial Concert For George at the Royal Albert Hall, November 29, 2002. (George might enjoy the pun). It’s been twenty years ago, if you can believe it! I have the DVD, which I watch at least a couple of times a year. There is a terrific array of musicians, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney, and a few others who have since died, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar, and more recently, Gary Brooker. Ravi’s daughter Anoushka, who was in her early twenties at the time, conducted a 20 piece Indian orchestra. Both a solemn occasion, and a wake, I’m sure that to be in that room on that occasion would have been truly sublime. I’m still impressed watching the DVD.

[Len Upton]

…..and did we not all forget, as we sometimes do, another tune, from the Rumours album, Songbird. Christine had a long, and illustrious career, stretching way back before Fleetwood Mac, to the 60’s english folk and blues era. Two fine songs with the same title; that can’t be bad.

[Len Upton]

Most of you will know that the configuration, and song list of the first few Beatles albums was different between the U.K. and the U.S. The Brits were more than generous with 14 tracks, and the Americans significantly miserly, with just 10 tracks. Capital Records Canada split the difference with 12 tracks. I managed to hold off on my first album acquisition until the second Canadian Beatles release, which was Twist And Shout. I then doubled back to the first Canadian Beatles release, Beatlemania, with the well known Robert Freeman black and white picture of the 4 mop tops. The Canadian Twist And Shout album has a leaping/jumping photo similar to the British Help! album, and has become quite a collectors’ item, especially outside Canada. The third Canadian release was titled Long Tall Sally, and the cover resembles the American Second Album.

In any case, what came next “gets a bit blurry”. The Beach Boys Today comes to mind, because of Help Me Rhonda, a long- time favourite. They already had a couple of surfing and hot rod albums, which appealed to teenage guy sensibilities. In any case, everything from British Invasion Bands to Motown, and everything in between, and beyond, was now on the radar.

My problem was that a friend of a friend, was actually a record distributor’s sales rep, and was more than happy to supply friends with records at wholesale prices. As you can imagine, this was a challenge to any young guy’s financial circumstance, even with a paper route.

Somewhere on the MLT website, I’ve seen a picture of Mona and Lisa outside one of their favourite record stores. I caught a glimpse of it again, very recently, prominently displayed on the wall, above the fire place/mantel, in the production room that they set up, for the making of the most recent video, Make Show. (Sometimes the pause button can be quite useful)! In any case, long live vinyl!

[Len Upton]

First of all, the lost is found. Among the YouTube sources for Bring On The Night, the one that plays for 1 hour and 37 minutes seems to play complete and intact. We’re on the topic of drumming here, so just to say that Omar Hakim is worth watching, and the rest of the band is extraordinarily tight.

I was never a big fan of the Police, but Sting’s first two solo albums made quite an impression. The production and the songs seemed to resonate. Politics? Well, The Dream Of The Blue Turtles has a song called (If The) Russians (Love Their Children Too), and his second album, Nothing Like The Sun has, as you pointed out, An Englishman In New York, as well as History Will Teach Us Nothing.

As we know, what goes around comes around. The MonaLisa Twins complete the circle with If You Raise Your Head, and WHY? Why, indeed.

[Len Upton]

Brief correction here. Branford Marsallis does play alto sax, but in this clip it is a soprano sax.

[Len Upton]

This segment is from one of the best music movies ever. Sting has departed from the Police, and is in the process of going solo with his album The Dream Of The Blue Turtles. The film begins with rehearsals for the Paris debut concert, which, as you can see, is quite impressive. A great mixing of jazz and rock music, the musicians are the great Branford Marsallis, alto sax, Kenny Kirkland , piano, and Omar Hakim on drums. Mr. Sting, of course, on bass. Most of the movie has been on YouTube, but for some reason, gets cut off. Still, well worth watching that which is still intact.

[Len Upton]

Thanks for that Jurgen. I much appreciated the inclusion of “all that jazz”. It’s where most of my musical listening and learning resides these days.

[Len Upton]

Indeed, at the end of the song, the lyrics repeatedly ask “tell me what you see”…..

[Len Upton]

That was fun Fred. Clearly the Dutch do Flower Power better than anyone!

[Len Upton]

Thanks Jung. That was a terrific documentary about one of my favourite topics. George Martin is only mentioned briefly, but some have referred to him as the fifth Beatle. Even if that is an exaggeration, he was definitely in the thick of the creative process, and was frequently called on to provide technical and technological solutions. And he was the producer, after all. A lot of what they were recording on, was only four track machines that had to be patched together for overdubs, or accompanying sound effects. Martin did have a classical musical background. So, in light of the musical analysis in this documentary, my question would be, was George Martin fully aware of the many musical nuances, chords and chord changes, etc. described here? I would suggest that in many respects, yes, he was, and simply encouraged the creative process to unfold in front of his eyes and ears? These guys may have been maturing musically at the speed of sound, but they were still only in their mid twenties. Martin was always very discrete, and unassuming, in describing his part of the creative process. But the results are there for all to see and hear.

All the classical influencers mentioned in the documentary are single individuals. The Beatles, however, are the results of a mysterious synergy that played out between and among a small group of people. Lots of other “groups” of artists can work collaboratively. But this one was unique and special. Some have broken down the group into four constituent parts. John Lennon, the intellectual one. Paul McCartney, the emotional one. George Harrison, the spiritual one. Ringo Starr, the practical, down to earth one. There seems to be something to that idea.

[Len Upton]

Yes David; Lies is clearly derivative of the Beatles. The lead vocal even sounds a lot like John Lennon. But even if only a one hit wonder, it’s a great little rock and roll song. For me, a longtime favourite.