Day before yesterday, I had a Chuck Berry attack. I must have listened to ten of his songs in a row while at the gym. I can listen to "Johnny B. Goode" and "Back in the USA" all day. The guitar work on those gems is amazing. Then yesterday, I read he had died at the age of 90.
For anybody growing up in the 1950s, the 60s, and beyond, Chuck Berry was the father, the emperor, the god of Rock-n-Roll. His tunes were catchy, brilliant, and, above all, fun. Everybody else since seemed to be just a Berry derivative. Nobody could sing better than he about a car race, cruising around, an unfaithful girlfriend, or his patriotic opus,
I always thought this song, "Back in the USA," would have been a great national anthem. Imagine that belting out at the Olympics! The stadium would have rocked! Everybody would have wanted the US to win a gold.Oh well oh well I feel so good today
We just touched ground on an international runway
Jet-propelled back home from overseas to the USA
New York, Los Angeles
Oh how I yearn for you
Detroit, Chicago, Chattanooga, Baton Rouge
God I long to be at my home back in old St Lou
Did I miss the skyscrapers
Did I miss the long freeway
From the coast of California
To the shores of the Delaware Bay
You can bet your life I did
Till I got back to the USA
Looking hard for a drive-in
Searching for a corner cafe
Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
Yeah, and the jukebox jumping with records back in the USA . . .
I know there's all kind of stuff out there about how Berry was a difficult man, erratic, not too nice to other artists, etc. Who cares? He was a genius who made our lives better because he made them more fun.
Chuck Berry, R.I.P.
My favorite was "My Little Ding-a-ling".......
ReplyDeleteDiplomad,
ReplyDeleteMore on Brit's spying on Trump.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/03/oops_cnn_accidentally_confirms_story_that_brit_intell_passed_along_trump_communications_to_obama_admin_comments.html
I've been enjoying Chuck Berry You Tubes
DeleteChuck Berry had to make a living in super super tough conditions, you'd be a little "difficult" too if you went through what he did, for years.
ReplyDeleteBet Chuck caught up with Maybelline at the top o' the hill! Here's my favorite Chuck Berry tune, or was it Johhnie B. Goode....love that Honky Tonk piani too!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVY93pWazks
... got my motor revving in the fab 5O's~~~
OW~~~ still rockin n' rollin
If you get to heaven before I do~~~
loved Chuck Berry...RIP
ReplyDeletebut a little off topic..has anyone seen that Ivanka has JAMIE GORELICK as her attny. as does her DH..this is worse than awful..woman is akin to a traitor...I wish somehow POTUS would know that we are not happy re this...
Gorelick is not my favorite either, however the Law Firm in which she is a partner, is in the top tier, I wouldn't expect that Jared or Ivanka would settle for second best to handle specific legal issues.
DeleteBeyond that, it seems she was redeemed by Senator Slade Gordon (R) viz the "Wall" memo to "go beyond what is legally required...[to] prevent any risk of creating an unwarranted appearance that FISA is being used to avoid procedural safeguards... As for Trumps take, I suspect there's much that Daddy would have Daughter do differently, however, I've learned that it's not always easy to choose which faux pas needs Dad's intervention -- Gorelick may be one of those that the more it's stirred the more it stinks. ;)
Here's some insight from wiki:
1.Attorney General Ashcroft was incensed before the 9/11 commission to learn that the commission had not investigated or been told of Gorelick's memo or her role regarding the "wall". This assertion was disputed by former senator >>Slade Gorton (R-WA)<<, a member of the 9/11 Commission, who said, "nothing Jamie Gorelick wrote had the slightest impact on the Department of Defense or its willingness or ability to share intelligence information with other intelligence agencies." Gorton also asserted that "the wall" was a long-standing policy that had resulted from the Church committee in the 1970s, and that the policy only prohibits transfer of certain information from prosecutors to the intelligence services and never prohibited information flowing in the opposite direction.
2.Gorelick represented >>Jared Kushner,<< the son-in-law of Donald Trump, as he considered a possible role in the White House. She had advised Kushner, who has sprawling financial interests in a multi-billion-dollar global real estate empire, on how he might comply with federal ethics and anti-nepotism laws. She has argued that although officials leading federal agencies are barred from hiring relatives, the White House is not an agency and thus exempt.
OW~~~
Diplomad
ReplyDeleteComey and Rogers, head of NSA, lied to Congress yesterday. Imho, in a fascinating way, which, imho, may give away a lot. They both said Britain spying on Trump would violate 5 Eyes agreements. No, no! 5 Eyes agree they won't spy on each others' leaders/officials but at each others' request, will spy on each others' citizens. Trump was a citizen, not a leader. Who is claiming Britain took it on itself to surveil? It would have been at request of U.S. Intel. And that's exactly what 5 Eyes members do for each other.
And I have a guess as to the reasons for the spying -aside from any dirty tactics by Obama, I.e., why the Intel agencies would so willingly get involved and what they are covering up. 1) Trump's campaign national security adviser, Flynn, was a maverick with ties he wasn't publicly disclosing, and 2) the biggie, some in Trump's circle and especially his for-a-while campaign manager, Paul Manafort, had disclosed ties to Ukraine, a country we and the EU are meddling heavily in to drive it away from Russia and into the bosom of NATO and the EU. I think our (and the EU's) activities in Ukraine are wide-spread, possibly might be shocking if known. I think it possible Ukraine was what the surveillance was really about. The UK under Cameron (and May) was very much aboard the EU's and our meddling efforts, so I think British Intel would have been willing to do the surveillance if asked so there was no track here and our Intel officials could plausibly deny. Ukraine/Crimea/expanding NATO seems to be McCain's obsession too.
Forty years ago last Saturday (3/20/77) four friends and I arrived in San Fransisco after a forty hours more or less non stop drive from St. Paul- four 6 footers stuffed in a Dodge Dart. Much to our delight we discovered that the Grateful Dead were opening a 3 night run at WInterland that very day. They played three great shows- we saw Friday and Sunday. They opened Friday with "Promised Land"- they had a new opening, and was a bit rocky to start, but they pretty much nailed it- Ned they closed the show with a terrific version of "Around and Around" Sunday they did both tunes again- "Promised Land this night in the second set, and again they closed with "Around and Around" Great versions of great songs. RIP Mr. Berry. And I love the idea of "Back in the USA"as our National Anthem!
ReplyDeleteSorry about the typos!
ReplyDelete