burroughs always seemed to get the heart of the matter…..
if i should ever die, god forbid, let this be my epitaph: the only proof he needed for the existence of god was music.
kurt vonnegut
it’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.
bob dylan
like many, my life moves to an evolving musical soundtrack. as america progressively slips more deeply into the maga abyss, that daily soundtrack has often in recent months turned a a bit more apocalyptic…..this page is a sampling of a typical daily soundtrack for this atypical time.
if you are interested in scanning the page (or even listening to a few cuts), avoid mobile devices, and just know it might take a bit of time for this page to load…so to deal w/ this “delay in…” situation, i recommend you first grab a copy of bukowski’s “burning in water, drowning in flame”, then pour at least 2 suitable adult beverages, and then read a bit while waiting for this webpage to become operational.
first reading recommendation? “tragedy of the leaves”….
tristano’s meditation on the life and the death of charlie parker…..and on life and death itself…seems like a fitting place to start in these times of optimism…
been looping "time out of mind" endlessly last few months....this one is destined to become the new american national anthem, is "early-late" dylan off one of his seminal accomplishments..
don pullen on the priviledge of waking up each morning….it is best served near 3am in yr time zone, lights out, hibiki, 12 or 17 yr, your choice, but neat.
i seem to be listening to a lot more bill fay these days…this is my favorite tune of his….love the photography here also….. north london’s finest…best heard in east london ...
the title sorta says it all here in election year america...from 1977, re-understood in 2024…
DESCRIPTION
ASU educational tip: this one is not really about san diego….
....well, unless its absolutely necessary....
one of the greatest 3 minutes of my life was when I first heard this one at age 17... the thing is, it gets more profound with each passing day...
how it feels to know that all the heroes have gone....chip taylor's masterpiece take on the american dream....
here in america, when when we feel like the world is going to post-MAGA/return-MAGA-orange-snowman fascist hell….and we need a little bit of post-MAGA/return-MAGA-orange-snowman-fascist inspiration…we find it best to always just post-MAGA/return-MAGA-orange-snowman-fascist remember….that pablo picasso never got called an asshole ….well, at least not in new york…and then we feel all better….
a mark linkous classic….
this rain parade classic could be the theme song of what appears to be the last years of the american empire…
……and the editors/co-editors/associate editors and everyone affiliated with the quarterly journal of economics….
supreme court justice sam alito's favorite tune.....
the greatest 17 minutes of live music ever recorded…….period
and, perhaps, the 8 + minutes that are a close second…dylan and the hawks, live, 1966…robbie robertson on guitar…
the most famous dead guy in paris killing it…jim’s preliminary remarks sorta capture the entire feeling of 2024 america….but 54 years ago….
one of my favorite songs....about living, memory, and loss...... sad...yet oh so perfect....
a succinct summary of the pre, post, and possible return MAGA-american dream…in orange…hank covering an old leon payne tune…and given biden’s poll numbers, this one could soon to be returning to your favorite theater….
springsteen’s reflection on 9/11…
the tune that goes through my mind everytime i am forced at gunpoint to listen to a talk (or read a paper) on behavioral decision theory…..
the velvets: no end-of-the-world /american-apocalypse playlist is complete without them…
perhaps the greatest business card ever made…..btw, for all of you who were not out of the womb in the 70s, this is richard hell, an amazing punk artist and writer…
best cut off one of the greatest records ever made “pictures and paintings” which was rich’s last record before his death….a landmark for many reasons...
warren zevon is one of a handful of my favorite songwriters…at his best, he was up w/ dylan….and just read dylan on zevon to see he agrees.. this is zevon’s perfect reflection on the death of the king…and on american culture itself…
denny’s classic done live on the bbc…. she first recorded it w/ strawbs in 67, then w/ fairport convention, early 70s…the version w/ fairport convention is absolutely perfect in every conceivable way….this version is better…
sister rosetta tharpe: the best argument i have heard for the existence of a benevolent god….
a possible return to the MAGA- apocalypse theological memo to myself: perhaps i need to start looking for a new god soon, because things ain’t looking very good with my current one… glen david andrews doing gospel, recorded live at one of my favorite churches in america, zion hill baptist church in treme…..located in the heart of the greatest city in the world, new orleans, la….this performance is absolute perfection
something beautiful…fleurette africaine….one of duke ellington’s finest pieces, solo….the tune was released on “money jungle”, one of the most important modern jazz records ever released…this solo version was recorded in the late 60s for australian tv….
monk’s beautiful deconstruction of a mchugh and fields standard….
her perfect cover of her original version….seems like a completely different tune…
so many dylan tunes….instead of more of the obvious, maybe a dylan outtake…been running through my mind for days....he first covered this old scottish folk song during the 60s, never released i believe, then recorded it w/ joan baez on the seminal “rolling thunder” tour of 75….but this version, an outtake from “time out of mind” is stunning…
johnny smith is my favorite jazz guitarist….this is an old scottish folk song…serving tip: sazarac, go heavy on the absinthe, extra dry, w/ sb on the bench in green park..
danny and dusty…a band dan stuart and steve wynn formed from various members of various paisley underground bands in 1985….and who recorded the one-off classic “lost weekend”….this one is perhaps the best cut from the sessions..…btw, the picture here is of monument valley arizona/utah….one of the most beautiful places on the planet…
my favorite sinéad tune…..off “theology”, the live version from the sugar club, dublin…such a loss….
…and while on the subject of sinéad, maybe her perfect cover the ralph mctell classic “streets of london” from the 70s …means a lot to me these days...
mahsa amini/“women life freedom” mural, central phoenix
for all those fighting basic human rights and human dignity…. in iran, russia, north korea, myanmar, china, ukraine, and the US over the last two centuries….…springsteen’s cover of one of dylan’s greatest…..
and maybe one more for alexei navalny….victor jara’s magnificent song released after his execution at the hands of pinochet’s american back band of thugs who overthrew allende….
parker and tristano…..and a lot of cigarettes…
the sound of charlie parker's alto….. in zermelo-fraenkel axiomatic set theory, i believe this is referred to as the “god axiom”
and as zorn is to the AOC (axiom of choice, not alexandria ocasio-cortez), this gem is to the “god axiom”…
that is lennie tristano sitting at the piano w/ parker
one more from god’s saxophone….w/ miles davis on trumpet…max roach on drums….
the original version of an absolutely essential tune to me...<3
the belfast cowboy w/ a song about an angel in the first degree.....
and amazing clip of robbie robertson introducing van morrison’s “tupelo honey” to scorsese.
bukowski, drinking right out of the bottle…like god intended….
post MAGA-apocalypse/world-war libartion interlude hint/tip/recommendation #1: grab a little buk to read, a shot of nikka coffey malt…then a shot of yuu baal pechuga mezcal….iterate as needed….works like a charm for managing the attention budget during all those intense behavioral moments…and for god’s sake, if you are still conscious, don’t forget to plan your next roadtrip with the official field guide to elvis shrines..
world on fire interlude: what could be better than waits reading bukowski to a car ride thru london in winter….
bukowski was a man “sans-covfefe”
always more dylan…maybe one of dylan’s finest moments…..an outtake from “infidels”, go figure…
sometimes, you just need something beautiful....for sb beautiful...
from the les blank film on leon russell…perfect jones….beer cans, smokes, and all….george jones is perhaps the greatest country singer ever….george jones is perhaps the greatest singer ever
maybe a bit of digression….some classic hitch….wish he would have lived to see the dark days of the trump years….and the possible return of the dark days trump years in 2024..
hitchens, near the end….amazing interview..
lockdown, ramones style….
some insane serge…..on “all the things you are”……
mingus meditating on the state of modern psychology
track 2, side 1, off “Car Wheels on a gravel road”…an absolutely essential record..…serving suggestion: much much louder…
ayler’s take on a classic blues….
sometimes, you just need a bit of ray charles in his prime ….as a precaution…..just in case tomorrow never comes……
i share burrough’s admiration of bill shakespeare…
kinda makes me remember a time I never experienced…..
billie at the beginning….
billie a bit later….
billie near the end…..what is especially important here is prez’s solo (his solo is second after ben webster’s) and how billie lights up immediately when prez plays…..they really were gold together….even near the end…
…and at the end…..chilling…
willesden green…a kink’s classic….and my second favorite tube station in london…..
bethnal green’s finest….peter green w/ the original fleetwood mac…blues guitar doesn’t get any better than this one…
baden powell in germany in his absolute prime....
chet in the beginning….pacific jazz, mid 50s, a classic…
post MAGA-apocalype/world war libation-music-reading hint/tip/recommendation #2 : get out chet’s complete paris sessions from 1956 with broven’s amazing “south to louisiana” book, listen and read as you drink alternating shots of a nice scotch and a killer polish vodka (the latter on the expert recommendation/gift of lukasz balbus)
at the very end…..when blue feels eternal
nick drake at his best…
classic wynette, late 60s….the way country music ought to be sung….
recorded a few weeks before his death….booker covering roger miller’s classic….this entire record is essential….
it might be that the orange snowman trump is not yet in jail, and might again be president, but as of today, i still got access to some killer james carroll booker iii….
booker in europe, 1978
i took a picture of this mural in new orleans in 2013…..2118 st. claude, a bit north of the french quarter…the photo is not level…..alcohol is a horrible thing for photography…
monk at the piano…
coltrane and dolply together…exactly how the god of your choice intended…
patsy in the late 50s….imagine seeing this on an old tube B/W TV…
one of my favorite van cuts….
coltrane and monk together….5 spot, nyc.
eric dolphy
a piece of modern jazz before modern jazz….just coleman and his horn….
monk and ginsberg
mingus w/ ornette and don cherry in the south of france….
back in the covid days, i remember. dr fauci mentioning that the prez, a cigarette, his sax, and adult beverage, and Lester’s amazing tone treats most moderate to severe cases all imaginable variants of the MAGA-plague….i am taking this expert at his word
requiem for lester young, recently dead…..
greatest songwriter from the nation of texas……
townes van Zandt and friends….
cash….not sure why i put it here, but seemed needed…
maybe some amalia….as its’ all fado 24/7 here in 2024 america…
for when life gets a bit too orange…always a good shot of piaf, a good red wine, and more good red wine…and then some Yamazaki can carry you over..….it’s all CDC and behavioral economics approved…..
the new york dolls really should have covered this…1966, nancy sinatra…w/ a bit of help from Lee Hazlewood
this might be the perfect doors tune….AM radio, los angeles, circa 1971……seminal…
Jim, in the mojave desert…
the most famous dead guy in paris…just before he ascended to the throne
i obviously love the doors….and their last recording w/ morrison “la woman” is still my favorite..….video clips near joshua tree and palm springs from a film morrison made…
subtle…..very subtle
boston’s finest, barrence whitfield and the savages….one of the very few arguments for not giving all of new england back to the brits.
i didn’t eat for 3 weeks when I was 19 because i was so broke after i bought of copy of box set of springsteen’s “the roxy 75” bootleg on colored vinyl…..and it was well worth the inconvenience…..you can always eat, but this bootleg is one of best shows ever recorded, and it was (and still is) impossible to find….springsteen did 3 nights at the roxy in october 1975…this is first encore off from the second night, never released (even on nugs)…roger mcquinn of byrds (who did the original version of this goffin/carole king tune) was in the audience that night…amazing version
when the alarm clock goes off each morning, i immediately put on “exile on mainstreet”…really helps me keep perspective on what will unfold this day…and everyday…the stones in their prime…..film shot by robert frank…..
one of my favorite masterpieces off the basement tapes…..the greatest box set ever issued…..hilarious dylan…
stooges, late 60s
ditto ditto
these guys really were one of the greatest bands ever…
ditto x 3
the dolls in their prime, 1973, live…and still aptly describes the current state variable on the american psychological state of mind..
mr. hell seems to have a point here……
written by springsteen initially..finished by patti……his version is also great…
w/ mapplethorpe
patti smith is an absolute treasure…..one of my favorite videos…a great tune also..
w/ mr. zimmerman
absolute perfection…my third favorite bud powell tune…
James Baldwin, at cambridge, during a debate with william buckley…. baldwin was the negation of all things MAGA
MAGA-Apocalypse/world-war libation-music-reading hint/tip/recommendation #3: a bit of ionesco’s play “hell of a mess”, w/ a shot or 3 of 17 year master’s keep edition of wild turkey….and perhaps django’s mosaic box for sound..…...
django, in his prime….
one of Ornette’s landmarks from the atlantic period
ornette
coltrane
“kind of blue” is perhaps the greatest record ever made in modern jazz…….this is a live version of one of its greatest tunes on the record
just dolphy and his alto…astounding
sonny, w/ jim hall…on the billie holiday classic…
lukasz wozny has taught me many things….the amazing music of komeda is just one….
my favorite photo of bud powell
an insanely great 2 minutes and 29 seconds of life….
….2 minutes and 2 seconds more….and please: really really fucking loud
and 2 minutes and 48 seconds more….even louder
joe falcon and cleoma breaux/falcon
the greatest of the zydeco masters…
a fats/dave Bartholomew collaboration….
some roads travel fast….other roads never end…
an young master covering a master…..
a master
sir mick, keith, and especially mick taylor….from the first show, brussels, 1973…this one is off the bootleg in the photo below…my favorite live stones cut ever…
when you listen to the faces, you forget you that the entire world might end in a few days…
MAGA-apocalyse world war music/sounds/libation interlude hint/tip/recommendation #4: some sam beckett, a bit of king car taiwanese whisky, w/ “the brussels affair” stones bootleg ….and the faces after the third shot….i mean, who the hell cannot love the faces during a time in history like this…….
just needed some standells…….loud….very very loud….
and the swingin medallions…”double shot of my baby’s love” …never gets any better than this one..
my favorite film ever….….and a killer byrds tune off the soundtrack…the video filmed mostly in high deserts northern arizona and the mountains of eastern arizona…. damn, i really miss dennis hopper… peter fonda also
an amazing clip of early zevon, live, after the release of his first record….one of his best tunes also…w/ david lindley and jackson browne….hearing this offers a good reason to get up every morning…
my favorite desperado song…
the music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs
there’s also a negative side.
hunter s. thompson
hunter s, circa 1963
hunter s on meeting Carter the first time….classic…
hunter s, during the 1972 campaign….
MAGA-apocalyse/world-war music/sounds/libation interlude hint/tip/recommendation #5: some Hunter S, ray charles atlantic sides for sound, add a bit of dexter on blue note…and a substantial bit of sazerac rye…makes you almost forget you the orange mussolini is on march back, and could either be in jail and/or president in 2024……
the best interview w/ hunter s available..
dexter
dexter, in the 60s….
dexter…near the end ….reconsidering the casablanca question….. .
josh homme doing “long slow goodbye” on the day bourdain died….
just needed to hear this…..
toussaint and costello’s revisit on the professor longhair classic…
two masters….iggy w/ waits, w/ coffee, w/ smoke…..
waits in paris, late 70s…...
when i moved west to asu it had nothing to do with asu… it was to get closer to the venues where dave alvin, john doe/x, the other blasters, los lobos, and dwight yoakum gigged regularly….amazing songwriter….this is one of his best…
leon covering the dylan classic….at the homewood sessions…..one of the greatest 60 minutes of music ever recorded (and video taped)…..thanks to jeff bulington for the education tip.
MAGA-apocalyse/world-war music/sounds/libation interlude hint/tip/recommendation #6: the king, 1968 comeback…ALL of it…. a generous amount of amrut (india’s greatest cask-strength whiskey) because its 5 cds worth of the king……and maybe a bit jim harrison at his very best…makes you forget all the horrible movies the king did…
68 comeback special, clip one
68 comeback special, clip two
the king, a single recorded during the “movie years”, early 60s, perfection….
gotta be the greatest b-side ever released…
the greatest band of the 80s….and one of the greatest bands ever…this one describes my mental state as biden’s poll numbers shrink….
gram and the burritos at the gilded palace photo shoot our near joshua tree….late 60s
the pot leaves on this nudie suit are simply remarkable…
gram and emmy’s version of this old boudleaux bryant tune/everly’s chestnut …from his last sessions before he headed out for one last weekend to joshua tree to overdose on downers and die....…
james carr has the best version of this one….but the burritos version also kills…
burritos just hanging out, late 1960s
gram and keith richards circa 1972..during the making of “exile on main street” in the south of france…
first heard this while i was being ticketed for speeding on highway 61 near bluegrass, iowa for going 67 mph in a 35 zone…it came on the radio while the cop was checking my driver’s license, writing the ticket, and suggesting driving schools....arguably the best song off one of the greatest records ever made
my second favorite version of my father’s favorite tune…
mary lou, solo, montreux, on a standard….perfection…
..a favorite nat cole….of many favorite nat coles…
sinatra’s great cover of this one……
what the hell is an american apocalypse without a bit of sinatra in his prime…serving suggestion from the chairman of the board himself: a shot or 3 of jack daniels and a fresh pack of camels, filterless, and conversation…
my favorite dire straits tune for many reasons going on 10 years now..….seems also fitting in an age of uncertainty….4 my sb...
dusty……off “dusty in memphis”, one of the greatest records ever recorded… the best cut off this classic….
roberta’s cover of the everly’s classic version of Gilbert Bécaud’s french tune “Je t'appartiens”, off her second record…better than all of the versions i have heard….sb ought to listen to this one...
maybe one more…..
we all need a dreamer in our dreams…. gotta love jeff tweedy…..
someone should write a serious book about new orleans piano….i.e., not "QJE" the fucker...jelly roll was one of the greatest, and this is my favorite jelly roll tune..
MAGA-apocalyse/ world-war music/sounds/libation interlude hint/tip/recommendation w/ convex analysis digression #7: read a bit of fenchels notes w/ the best single malt whisky in north america, from the nation of texas... sounds from the box set of louis armstrong’s work….
satchmo before he was satchmo….
lotta killer versions of this one….nat cole’s coming to mind….this one is the best…
a little anthony dominick benedetto…..
a little more…
a bit more of the king…….always a bit more of the king
i really love weller…his work w/ the jam, style council, and solo….this one is a favorite………
filmed along the highways near palm springs and the high desert near joshua tree, ca….my favorite knopfler tune.. also 4 my sb
chuck, in his living room, with johnnie johnson….
hendrix and an acoustic guitar….”hear my train a comin’”…..what more needs to be said…
….well, maybe this
absolutely kills……cash and luther perkins in their prime
rosanne’s cover of her father’s classic at the celebration of his life after his death….this one has always been my favorite cash tunes…rosanne’s version is the best…
great picture of cash….
perfect cover….recorded a few weeks before strummer died….and a year or so before cash died…killer cover of the marley classic…
cash at the end….discussing that long train ride on which we all have our ticket pre-booked at birth
june and johnny at the end….a perfect photogragh..
sam cooke’s monumental achievement. maybe some day……
garland’s best version of my favorite standard…
…and jarrett’s interpretation……
…and the best version……
epilogue….