Buck Owens (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), and Dwight Yoakam (b. October 23, 1956) :  two master navigators of a very unique tributary along the stream of popular music, inspired and learned from each other - one, being the progenitor of the "Bakersfield Sound", and the other his adopted musical progeny.  "The Streets of Bakersfield," originally recorded by Buck Owens in 1973, was revived as a duet between the two men in 1988, becoming  a chart hit and a popular video.  Buck, whose career had gone dark after losing his friend and musical partner, Don Rich in 1974, was sparked back to life when Dwight came into his life.  Here Bill and Rich attempt to connect some of the musical catalogue and biographical dots  of these two musical giants. 

How does one define Romance in the era of "me, too"?  Bill and Rich, The Splendid Bohemians, wrestle with this question as they examine the work of the man who was dubbed "France's Frank Sinatra."Charles Aznavour (22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018), one of Armenia's favorite sons, was a cultural force as a singer, writer-composer, actor, and artistic diplomat around the world. His catalogue is voluminous.  For much of the 20th century, Aznavour promulgated what the ideal of romance should be.  Jean Cocteau once said:  "Before Aznavour despair was unpopular".  His voice describes the longing of desire, and the pain of regret. Can these emotions ever be considered out of date?

Getz and Gilberto - an immortal pair of musical lovers - The Czar and Czarina of sexy insinuation. The coolest purveyors of cool jazz, swinging sweetly with a Portuguese inflection. Just try to listen to them without moving involuntarily -  you can’t. Before you know it, your shoulders will be swaying gently in the fragrant summer breeze that perfumes the air all around you with longing and lust. This cut represents the epitome of what a Sunny Song should be: you can literally feel the warmth from old Sol on your face as you picture brown bodies frolicking along Rio’s beaches. It may have emerged specifically out of the time and place of Brazil’s Bossa Nova craze of the early 60s, but it’s timeless. The sound, the feeling, the groove - immutable. Rich and I covered The Girl From Ipanema on a previous episode of Put On a Stack of 45s, so I won’t rehash the particulars of Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto’s biographies. Let the music suffice to tell their story - and, It’s so compelling that it leads one to wonder: were they, or were they not lovers? It doesn’t matter, there is no mistaking the true meeting of the minds and loins in their melodious connection. 

On Aug. 18, 1969, legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix stepped onto the stage at the Woodstock, N.Y., Music Festival and embarked upon an uninterrupted set lasting nearly two hours--one of the longest performances of his career.FOUR MONTHS LATER...........December 31, 1969 -Prior to their two concerts later that evening, Hendrix and his Band Of Gypsys held an afternoon sound check and rehearsal at the Fillmore East.Fillmore East, New York Two Shows Prior to their two concerts later that evening, Hendrix and his Band Of Gypsys held an afternoon sound check and rehearsal at the Fillmore East. Later that evening, before a sold out crowd of 2,639, Hendrix rang in the New Year and new decade with two unforgettable performances. The evening’s festivities opened with a spirited set by the Voices Of East Harlem, an enthusiastic young gospel ensemble. With the anticipation of the sold out Fillmore audience heightened to fever pitch, Hendrix led his trio through a scintillating, seventy-five minute opening performance. None of the eleven songs presented had yet to grace an Experience album. In the place of signature songs like “Purple Haze” and “All Along The Watchtower” were confident renditions of “Izabella” and “Hear My Train A Comin’”. At midnight, Kip Cohen, the venue’s master of ceremonies, rang in the new year and decade buffeted by Guy Lombardo’s “Auld Lang Syne”. Never one to be upstaged, Jimi and company greeted the joyous house with their own inspired reading of the holiday staple. For Amalie Rothschild, the Fillmore East’s house photographer, the experience was an unforgettable one. “Then there was the countdown at midnight. It was the countdown that was a real scream. We’re talking about the end of the Sixties. December 31, 1969 turning into January 1, 1970–.A new decade. This was significant. After all, we were living through it and we knew that the Sixties were the Sixties. We had this big countdown on the [Joshua White] light show screen with this big clock 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…and everybody is yelling together. Then the light show screen pulls up and everybody is on stage–all the crew and the musicians. Hendrix, who is now on stage, launches into this amazing rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and I filmed it [excerpts of Rothschild’s color film footage can be seen in the VHS/DVD Band Of Gypsys]. This was history in the making. You could not miss this. His performance was just so inspired. It was just terrific and I can’t find the words to describe it.” The recordings which make up both Band Of Gypsys and its two disc sequel Live At The Fillmore East certainly bear out Rothschild’s remembrances. Jimi’s celebrated work with the Band Of Gypsys stands among his most impressive and lasting achievements. After the show, Ian Dove of Record Mirror interviewed Jimi Hendrix for the January 10, 1970 edition of the British paper. Later that night, Hendrix retreated to The Café Caliph (previously known as The Café Au Go Go) in Greenwich Village where he joined The James Cotton Blues Band on stage for a jam.

Starting with the salutary opening voice over: “The Sir Douglas Quintet is back, we’d like to thank all our beautiful friends all over the country and all the beautiful vibrations, we love you…” - this Tex-Mex, flower-power rave up let’s you know that you’re in for a groovy ride. Doug Sahm’s Tejana inflected combo from the borderlands broke up after their weed bust, and he relocated to the Bay Area where his head was turned around by the Hippies up there. Inspired by what he was experiencing, he re-recruited 3 of his original compatriots, including his childhood friend, the sizzling Vox organist, Augie Myers, and they produced this powerful tribute to the Northern California scene. I didn’t know much about this group, and what I did know was fabricated. They were dubbed The Sir Douglas Quintet by their record producer in order to capitalize on the British Invasion juggernaut that was happening in ’65, and their first single, She’s About a Mover struck gold. That’s all I knew until I heard this anthem with its indelible organ riff, and then my radar was properly installed. Years later, when Sundazed released The Mono Singles ’68-’72 I immediately bought it and it overstimulated my CD player. What a collection! Every cut is a gem.The one time child prodigy who appeared with Hank Williams at the age of 12, before the Hillbilly Shakespeare met his untimely fate, also died too young. Doug Sahm was only 58 when he passed, but he left behind a trove of unforgettable music.

https://www.fayboundalberti.com/blog/2017/10/19/its-not-unusual-says-tom-jones-but-he-misses-the-pointWhat goes around, comes around. Tom Jones, the happily married man who claimed to have slept with 250 women in a single year opens up about his own sexual harassment early in his career.

VISIT THE PRUNES!http://www.electricprunes.com/

THUNDER ROAD (THE WORK IN PROGRESS- ORIGINAL ACOUSTIC TAKE)THE HEIST (FIRST TAKE OF THE WORK COMPLETED AS  "MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER"BORN TO RUN (ALTERNATIVE TAKE)BACKSTREETS (ALTERNATIVE TAKE)LOVERS IN THE COLD  (DID NOT MAKE THE CUT FOR THE ALBUM)A LOVE SO FINE  (DID NOT MAKE THE CUT FOR THE ALBUM)JUNGLELAND (REHEARSAL)I was a possessive motherfucker when it came to The Boss (he wasn’t “The Boss” yet; he was just a skinny, scruffy Pub-Rocker Poet).  I discovered him early on, when I bought Greetings From Asbury Park on a whim, and I was so proud because I was able to spread the Gospel of Bruce to Rich, in return for the revelations of Astral Weeks and Love’s Forever Changes, among many others. I saw him at Max’s Kansas City, with Bob Marley opening; We trekked out to Roslyn to see him at My Father’s Place, with a crowd so small we were able to stand at his feet in front of the stage; We saw him introduce Born to Run at the Bottom Line, just before the megaton explosion of fame; and finally, the last time was at The Palladium when he had just made the covers of Time and Newsweek simultaneously - which he name checked in the song Rosalita, while the crowd screamed.At that moment I knew the romance was over. I couldn’t bring myself to see him in a stadium. I still bought the records up until The River, but I mourned the loss of my private knowledge. The entire world would soon line up to anoint him. Here is a treat for Springsteen fans from the Born to Run Outtakes archives. It’s fun to hear the Easter eggs hidden throughout these cuts as Bruce works out the arrangements that would eventually make it on to the final master. Enjoy!

A major part of my sentimental education was connected to the keening, heart-throbbing tone of Emmylou Harris. And, this cut off her Pieces of the Sky album has me literally in tears every time I hear it.  I can’t help it. It’s my romantic ideal personified; perfect love - unattainable, yet always worth striving for. I was acquainted with Emmylou’s plangent sound before that, as muse and partner to the late Gram Parsons. I wore the grooves out on Grievous Angel’s Hickory Wind and Love Hurts, but this solo outing was something from another planet. Boulder to Birmingham, which I understand was a tribute to her fallen comrade is also a gorgeous tear jerker, but this cover of Ira and Charlie Louvin’s 1958 classic evocation of yearning destroys me without fail each time my ears and heart encounter it.  Her seamless duet with Herb Pedersen, who follows her swoop for swoop, is flawless, and the longing for soul connection that it demonstrates cannot be described adequately with mere words. You just have to hear it.Born in 1947, Emmylou is 76 now, and still lovely. With each new gray hair she’s grown more fetching. Of course, she ascended inevitably to the country music throne to which she was destined. Still, whether singing with a partner, or solo, her signature sound continues to clutch at my heart. Such sweet sadness.

THE KINKS ON NPR-https://www.npr.org/artists/15420606/the-kinks