A Day in the Life - A Night in the Underground

June 27, 2010

The Beatles and Elvis
If you saw the movie Pulp Fiction, you may remember the conversation Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) have at Jack Rabbit Slims just before their twist dance. Mia states that everyone is either an Elvis fan or a Beatles fan… you can’t be both. Although I would be the first to agree (for the most part) with her assessment, there are a very very few of us that really enjoy both.

The Beatles and Elvis each defined a decade and their fans are terribly possessive, each in their own way. Their respective impersonator/tribute band fan-bases are a bit forgiving. They enjoy the memories, the songs, and the whirlwind of nostalgia that whips through a venue whenever their respective ‘favorites songs’ are played. It is for this reason you see so many impersonators/tribute bands that aren’t exactly ‘right on’ vocally, musically, or visually but still maintain unfailing loyalty from the fans. To this fan base NO person can recreate the magic of the King or the Fab Four, so they really don’t expect them to. No priest could walk across water or turn water into wine… so what’s the use in expecting it?

For those that perform exclusively for these audiences (at conventions, contests, and showcases,) the unending accolades and standing ovations can be a sweet assumption!

I, on the other hand, have spent the majority of my two decades as a professional entertainer singing, performing and impersonating in front of much more critical and discerning audiences. Nothing against my brother Elvi on the contest circuit, there just aren’t that many contests and opportunities between Chicago and Las Vegas. I’ve been forced to take on a greater breadth of characters, a wider scope of eras and a more challenging range of styles – from big band to 90’s. At times, this eclecticism has made me ‘persona non grata’ in the Elvis circles, but that’s for another blog… this one’s not about me.

Okay… after all that verbal foreplay I’m finally getting to the meat of what I wanna say.

The presence, charisma, and vocal magic of Elvis… and the harmonies, absolute musicality and soul of the Beatles are all terribly, terribly difficult to recreate for a non-fan-base audience! You have no idea how difficult! This was evident and fully in play in a show I saw tonight.

Tonight the “Captain Quirk and Friends” performed the Abbey Road Show at the Soiled Dove Underground club. It was a fundraiser for Craig Hospital and PHAMALY (a wonderful organization that assists those with a wide range of disabilities.) I am better than casually familiar with a number of the musicians. The drummer, Larry Ziehl, is one of the finest percussionists I have ever worked with, and is the drummer for my band Sock Hop. Keyboardist Donna Debreceni (again, one of the finest in her field) and the equally talented Mitch Jervis and I have worked together before and aren’t members of my band only because I can’t afford them and their schedules are too booked. Austin Hein on bass I knew by reputation. So I assumed the show would be good.

I was wrong.

It was SPECTACULAR… GREAT…. AWESOME… choose your adjective! The harmonies were spot-on (which is not an easy task with Beatles’ songs!) Mitch’s guitar licks and Larry’s tempos were not only note-for-note precise, but the subtle inflections and hits were straight off the record albums. I have never ever enjoyed hearing cover songs as much as I did tonight. I almost feel guilty pointing out only a few musicians because each person on stage was just as professional and entertaining as the next. There is no keyboardist with the talent, spunk, and energy of the Awesome Goddess herself, Donna! The vocalists – Dan Langhoff and Regan Linton were both of a level that they could be the lead in any band. I was a bit disappointed the soundman didn’t have the bass levels a bit higher (considering how McCartney’s bass was such a mainstay of Beatles songs) and from what I could hear, Mr. Hein was every bit up to the caliber of the other band members. But aside from that, I couldn’t find any noticeable shortcomings in the entire 2-hour show.

And it wasn’t as if they leaned back on the 5-chord blues basics of the early 60’s. They took on the complex, intricate and impossible tempo-changing songs like “A Day In The Life” and “Dig a pony!” The highlight, for me was hearing “Because” – starting with the keys…vocals and Mitch’s guitar only (a subtle, almost imperceptible tempo being playing - almost inaudibly -by Larry.) As in the original, the rest of the band fills it out about halfway through. It was intoxicatingly beautiful!

No matter how good a vocalist you are, there is a wonderful security when you know there are brass, keys, guitar, bass and drums to help mute any possible mistakes you may make. To go out there acapella (or very nearly to it) you are really hanging yourself out there… just begging to have your faults displayed for all the world! It’s the vocal equivalent of walking onstage bare naked! So I heard that opening riff of Because and thought…wow! Are they really gunna’ try ‘n pull this off? Most bands and singers wouldn’t even go NEAR that song! But they attacked it with the charisma and confidence they showed in every other one of their songs! And sure enough, they nailed that…. song, harmonies and all!

I’ve heard concert performances by Ringo and McCartney, and even they don’t sound like the original recordings. In fact they don’t even try to replicate the original versions. As someone who has made his living trying to replicate styles, inflections, and ‘tonality’ as one director described it… I can tell you it is exasperatingly difficult to replicate anywhere close to such well-known and often heard legends as Neil Diamond, Nat King Cole, Orbison, Holly, Louie Armstrong, and Dean Martin. The Beatles and Elvis? That’s a whole level higher still! And every musician on stage… Larry on drums, Donna on keys, Austin on bass, Mitch on guitar and the melodic voices of Dan and Regan accomplished the task with command and apparent ease. Even Larry took a shot at vocals with Octopus’ Garden and did better than Ringo. Okay, that’s not saying that much. Okay.. Larry was GOOD! As was Donna with her vocal lead. (A little Help?!.. not sure)

The Abbey Roadshow was a unique and magical once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – the chance to hear exactly the songs you want, exactly the way you want to hear them. It felt like a private performance of favorite songs flawlessly played! It was a show I would return to time and again, just to hear the melodies… to hear the Beatles as the Beatles should be played!

Speaking out while I still can

I'm re-entering the National Guard soon, so I'm getting out some venting before I have to take that oath of obedience and submission again....

June 25, 2010

According to a recent Wall Street Journal poll, Obama’s disapproval rating is higher than it has ever been at 48 percent. What amazes me is the remaining 45 percent of “true believers” that refuse to face the facts. I have one such friend myself… a very good friend that just baffles me! The other day I asked him “If G W Bush had taken over the auto companies, ousted a corporate CEO and began dictating the day-to-day affairs of the company, he’d be rightfully accused of being a power-grabbing dictator… but Obama does it and nobody seems to have a problem with it. Why?” His response was simple.
“Because it’s Obama.” And he was completely serious!
Really? Are you kidding me?!?!
There are so many actions taken by this president – that had anyone else had even attempted them, liberals, the media, and everyone else would be up in arms!
 He promised transparency, but has conducted everything from BP meetings to Health Care negotiations behind closed doors and in the shadows.
 He promised bills would be online for the entire public to view before any major issues were voted on, yet health care, cap-and-tax preliminaries, the stimulus package, TARP II, and the omnibus bill were all shoved down our throats without even a SINGLE DAY of the bills being placed online.
 He promised that the age of lobbyists’ influence would be ended, yet has signed countless waivers in order to appoint dozens of lobbyists to his administration.
 He promised to represent not ‘red America’ or ‘blue America’ but the United States of America and yet never before – not even under the supposedly demonic GW Bush administration- has the language from the White House been more vitriolic and partisan.
 He has failed to support the most patriotic, loyal, and devout Americans among us, in particular our police (Cambridge,) our CIA (pressing forward with criminal investigations,) our military (prosecution of Navy SEALs,) and even the governors of our states (Jindall and Brewer.)
 He has betrayed our closest allies (Israel and Great Britain as well as his removal of defensive weapons from our Eastern European allies) while embracing enemies like Hugo Chavez.
 Defying the will of over 60% of Americans, he shoved the socialized health care bill down our throats.
 Defying the will of 70% of Americans, he is taking an oppositional position on the Arizona law regarding illegals.
 His department of labor created a public service announcement featuring Secretary of Labor Hilda Salis telling illegals that they are entitled to fair pair whether they are documented or not.
 When the democrats and the administration couldn’t get bills passed by the legal and constitutional manner demanded by the Constitution, they reverted to sleazy and underhanded parliamentary tactics to shove the legislation through.
 Obama refused to even mention the attacks against men and women at Ft. Hood until he gave a ‘shout out’ to a guest at the press conference – spending a full two minutes before addressing the attack on soldiers and civilians – clearly showing the lack of concern he has for those who wear the uniform of our country.
 Also along the lines of disrespect and disregard for the military, Obama has consistently taken contrary positions to his military advisors (re: troop levels as well as the don’t-ask-don’t tell policy) completely discounting the opinions of military experts, choosing instead to dictate his terms and social policy regardless of the effects on the performance, moral, or effectiveness of the Armed Forces.
 He has strong-armed not only private businesses, but individuals in congress, invoking practically fascist attitudes in coercion; embracing the philosophy of ‘not only the force of persuasion, but the persuasion of force.’ His administration as intimidated, threatened, and coerced anyone foolish enough to get in their way.
 To unprecedented levels, he has demeaned, insulted, and put down America on the world stage – choosing to blame America first and utterly failing to embrace or praise the land of his birth… err… the land he represents.
 He has defended and befriended domestic terrorist groups including the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground.
 Obama has created a virtual ‘shadow government’ of advisors and Czars unconstrained to the checks-and-balances ensured by Senate confirmations. These Czars have included self-declared communists, socialists, and radical revolutionaries with admittedly anti-American and anti-capitalist beliefs.
 When a court struck down the oil-drilling ban, the administration disregarded the court orders brushing aside judicial jurisdiction and pressed forward with yet another ban.
 According to the New York Times, Obama is now considering giving a blanket amnesty to illegals by fiat – also called ‘executive order.’
 Then there’s all the things that haven’t come to light, such as the billions of dollars Obama’s friends have to gain from Administration policy regarding BP and drilling (Soros and Petrabus,) Cap and Trade (Shore Bank and Obama’s Chicago cronies,) the Smart Grid (Immelt and General Electric.) These are SO far beyond anything that happened regarding Halliburton under the Bush administration – we’re talking about literally TRILLIONS of dollars of business just in the case of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX!)
 In order to justify the moratorium on oil drilling, the administration tampered with a peer-reviewed recommendation, adding two whole pages to the review after it had been signed-off on by the experts. Those two pages entirely misrepresented the views and conclusions of the experts, who later condemned this fraud perpetrated by the administration.
The corruption and cronyism as well as the lack of transparency – the Chicago style politics – have risen to a level never before experienced in this Republic! So again I ask –
IF GW BUSH DID ANY OF THIS, WOULD YOU BE OKAY WITH IT?

The most glaring difference between today’s liberals/progressives and the conservatives lies in the fact that if GW Bush had been guilty of any number of the above usurpations and draconian power-grabs, they would have been the FIRST calling for Bush’s resignation or impeachment. It says so very much about the progressives that they have no problem with dictators, fascists, and autocrats – as long as it’s their fascist dictator or autocrat!

I haven’t even included the typical partisan Washington BS – like blaming Republicans for ‘obstructionism’ when it is numerical impossible for them to obstruct anything! The Democrat party has a supermajority in the House and is only one vote short of the same in the Senate. That means there is absolutely NOTHING the GOP can do to obstruct ANY bill going through Congress! The Republicans could stay home and not even show up and it would make no difference.

This administration is the absolutely worst in history, far outpacing the fascism of the Wilson administration, the corruptions of the Harding or Nixon administrations (I mean really – breaking into a campaign headquarters to get dirt on hookers-for-donors seems rather tame today, doesn’t it?) The dictatorial lengths to which this administration has gone have already outpaced the New Deal and the current socialist tendencies have dwarfed the Great Society. The one-trillion discrepancy between GW Bush’s inherited surplus (based upon the emasculation of the military by Clinton)and the deficits he bequeathed to Obama (due more to the internet bubble burst, Katrina, 9-11, and the wars rather than the tax cuts) have been completely eclipsed by the quadrupling of the debt by Obama! I know the lefties screamed the hyperbole “the worst president in history” through the 8 years of Bush, but point by point by point, there are FACTS that support the argument when it is applied to Obama.

When lefties screamed about Bush’s suspension of Habeas Corpus regarding terrorists, there was a precedent in the Lincoln administration – unwarranted wiretaps and the Patriot Act, a precedent set by Clinton in the War on Drugs - military tribunals, a precedent set by FDR during World War II. The only precedents applicable to the actions of the Obama Administration lie in the Weimer Republic, The Soviet Union, The Peoples’ Republic of China, and the Third Reich of Germany. No, I’m not saying Obama is replicating all the aspects of Nazi Germany – only that his actions bear a striking resemblance to those of 1930’s Germany – pre-concentration camps.

“Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.”
- George Santayana
“Those who never learned the past to begin with… they will recreate the past without even knowing it!”
- Charles King Byrne