1) What was the first song you remember hearing and enjoying on the radio?
I have a very powerful and distant memory of waking up in a cabin in the woods from a nap of some sort. I am about 5 or 6. There is no one there, just the peace of the forest, and John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’ was playing from somewhere. It’s a good memory, and I wish I remembered more of the context.
2) If you could only listen to five CDs for a year, which five would they be? (Boxed sets can count as one CD. Sigh.)
In the business, we call this ‘desert island discs’. Ok, off the top of my head: Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks. Grateful Dead – From the Vault (live 1975, the Help/Slipnot/Franklins will blow your fucking mind.) Metallica – Master of Puppets. Guns & Roses – Appetite for Destruction. Pearl Jam – Yield. No, wait… the one with the avocado on the cover. I think it is just called ‘Pearl Jam’.
3) What was your favorite year, music-wise?
1977 seemed to be a sick year for rock and roll, as my buddy Eric pointed out. You have the Led Zeppelin ‘Destroyer’ bootleg out of Cleveland. Steely Dan is landing Aja. Grateful Dead drop ‘Terrapin Station’ and Fleetwood Mac put out ‘Rumors’. Also, I think that is the year for Eagles ‘Hotel California’. So, that was a seriously epic year for rock. Too bad I was only 5 at the time.
4) If you could witness one historical music event through all time, what would you pick, and why?
Not Woodstock. Every musician there said there set sucked. People romanticize that festival. I mean, it was a landmark. But, if you were there, it kinda sucked. It rained the whole time, traffic was a nightmare, food and bathroom were almost non existant, and that sound system sucked. None of it was built to support 500,000 people, which is how many showed up. That was 1969. The event I would choose, musically, would be the Monterey Pop Festival in 67. This was the peak of the San Francisco scene, and it coalesced perfectly at that moment. It is also when Jimi Hendrix was introduced to America. My summer of 69, the San Francisco scene had gone to crap because of meth and freeloaders.
So, musically… that is my choice. Non musically? The Kennedy assasination. that is if I am just a witness and can’t stop anything. If I could go back in history and stop something, it would be to protect either Bobby Kennedy or MLK.
5) Do you have a song that never fails to cheer you up? What is it and why does it do that for you?
Well, if I am bummed, I don’t listen to music to try and cheer me up. I just get afraid that listening to that music will later make me remember the time I was bummed. So, I don’t to ruin it. But, some songs that bring me pure joy and happiness are > Come on Eileen, Take your Mama (scissor sisters) and Skookian from Louis Armstrong.
6) Ok, so you wanna know what I think happened with the Kennedy thing?
I do believe Oswald was the lone shooter. However, I do NOT believe he acted alone. I think elements of our govt put him up to it. I think Lyndon Johnson was involved on some level, and I believe it had to do with the Vietnam War. Now, keep in mind… in 1963… EVERYONE wants to kill Kennedy. The mafia want him dead, because they feel they got him elected… and his brother (as attorney general) is busting their balls. Casto wants him dead, because he has been overtly trying to kill Castro for some time. The war machine (er… the possible Johnson connection) wants him dead because he said he was going to draw down Vietnam and get of out of that mess. Note that after Kennedy is killed, the war goes on another pointless 8 years. Also, the bible belt want him dead because he is a womanizer… and beleives black folk have rights. So, a better question is… who didn’t kill Kennedy?
I am Correct 