DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

http://johnnynash.com/

Texas born actor, singer, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur, Johnny Nash (1940-2020) was a driven visionary that, undaunted by commercial challenges in the U.S. marketplace, relocated to Jamaica, founded JAD Records, discovered and signed Bob Marley, and helped grow Reggae's popularity around the world - first by covering Marley's "Stir It Up," then, by writing and recording this inspiring ode to survival and hope.

And, let's not forget that he was also the voice of the theme song to the mid-'60s cartoon show "The Mighty Hercules!"

Bill and Rich had fun uncovering and relishing this great artist's story of ingenuity and grit. We hope you'll enjoy it, too!

ALL HAIL NEW ORLEANS' ROYALTY!  The boys pay homage to one of the greatest voices - (and most spiritual human beings) - ever to grace the earth. And, you can read the recently released memoir that reveals his triumphs and tribulations.

https://aaronneville.com/

Tell It Like It Is – OUT NOW!

Aaron Neville shares his story, complete with stories of overcoming struggles and finally achieving success, in his debut memoir ‘Tell It Like It Is’: now available! Read all about Neville’s incredible path through life and own the book here. Also, check out some of the events and media celebrating the release!

Some early reviews are in…

“Iconic New Orleanian, platinum-record singer and songwriter Aaron Neville, a Grammy Hall of Famer… candidly reveals his little-known personal and professional struggles.”
– Booklist
 
“A gratifying, spiritual, and hopeful against-all-odds memoir.”
– Library Journal (Starred Review)
 
“The author’s life has been an inspiration…A worthwhile musical survivor’s story.”
– Kirkus

Blame it on the Bossa Nova’s magic spell that the Samba craze swept the nation in the mid-‘60s. And, two of the main proponents of this joyful, sun-splashed celebration were Sergio Mendes and Herb Alpert. Herbie had the record label, A&M, and Sergio had the secret sauce, not to mention the lovely lead singer Lani Hall, who later became Mrs. Alpert. 

Mas Que Nada, translated from the Portuguese, means “Whatever,” and the lyrics are insisting that whatever else may be happening, the singer passionately craves the Samba. The rolling syncopation of Mendes’s piano, along with the percussion and the siren call of Lani and her partner Janis make the seduction irresistible: this is just, good sexy fun, and you don’t have to understand the lyrics to get the message. 

The song, originally written, recorded, and made a hit in Brasil by Jorge Ben, was spread around the world by Sergio and Herbie, making it to #47 on the Billboard Top 100. I hope that the tune’s creator took some pride and pleasure it that - (along with the royalties)… so, “whatever!”

Domingo Samudio (b.February 28, 1937), better known as "Sam the Sham" is a quintessential American entrepreneur: a huckster with limited vocal ability, who took a simple, Show biz concept: - a corny, lovable, Rock n Roll persona  - a TexMex Pharaoh in a turban, created a raft of top 10 smashes, and in the process became immortal. 

In 1965, Wooly Bully, a salsa flavored variation on the Hully Gully dance hit, started it all for Domingo, who continues on his journey to this day, sharing his colorful experiences and life lessons as a motivational speaker.   

“Bless the Weather” by Iain David McGeachy, OBE (1948-2009)— known to the public as John Martyn, is an emblem of the unfathomable mysteries of the universe: How could music so divinely comforting have emanated from one so troubled? Of course, treading the path of this maestro’s biography we find the familiar signposts of drug addiction, marital abuse, alcoholism, and psychic distress. And yet. this spiritual offering translates as only gentleness and pure peace. ’Tis a puzzlement.

Well, humans are complex, or as he himself wrote: “some people are crazy.”  In 1980, after Martyn’s break up with wife and partner Beverly, this “father of TripHop” created “Grace and Danger”, which his friend and label owner, Chris Blackwell refused to release for a year because he felt it was “too disturbing”. So, I guess it wasn’t all hearts and flowers. And yet, even there, the folk-jazz improvisations, abetted by the agile bass fingerings of Danny Thompson, lull, even as they hint at a provocation. 

Be that as it may, on this cut the soothing, vibrational waves of guitar and voice align my brain waves in such a way that I can feel my heart rate immediately relax. It is a meditation; a connection to the eternal one-ness. 

Raymond Barretto Pagan was born to Puerto Rican parents in New York on April 29, 1929. When he was barely four years old, his father decided to leave home and return to Puerto Rico. His mother settled in the South Bronx and raised her three children by herself. From an early age, Barretto was influenced by two styles of music: Latin and Jazz. During the day, his mother listened to the music of Daniel Santos, Bobby Capó, and the Los Panchos Trio. However, as Ray grew up, he fell in love with Machito Grillo, Marcelino Guerra, Arsenio Rodríguez, and the Jazz orchestra greats he heard on the radio; stars like Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington.

When he turned 17, Barretto enlisted in the United States Army and was sent off to World War II. While stationed in Germany, he heard the song that changed his life: “Manteca” by Chano Pozo and the Dizzy Gillespie band. When he left the army, Barretto returned to New York and, influenced by the percussion instruments that his idol Chano Pozo dominated, he bought a bongo. But he wasn’t satisfied with the sound, so he went out and spent 50 dollars on some tumbadors he saw for sale in a local neighborhood bakery. And that’s how he took his first steps onto the nightclub music scene. His first recording was in 1953, with Eddie Bonnemere’s Latin Jazz group at the Red Garter lounge in New York. In contrast to famous conga players of the time like Cándido Camero, Mongo Santamaría, and Patato Valdés –who started out with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and worked their their way up to Jazz– Barretto started out in the world of Jazz; it would be years before he would make a foray into other Latin rhythms.

She’ll Return it is an obscure, minor league number from the Animals catalogue, a B-Side to their Ma Rainy cover of See See Rider. I first heard it on the album Animalization, which, along with Animalism are my two favorite collections by that band. It’s just a simple, 12 bar, blues progression, with basic lyrics insistently repeating one central phrase - “Love her -, she’ll return it.” 

Over the years that mantra has burrowed deep within me, engraving itself into my consciousness as a prescription for all relationships - friends, lovers, children, students, even chance encounters. It’s a clarion call for kindness and empathy: (What the world needs now is love, sweet love; Cast your bread upon the waters; what goes around comes around) - delivered with funky syncopation, and good humor, never failing to bring me around when I’m sinking in the quicksands of alienation.

Eric Burdon is one of the all time great rhythm and blues therapists of any color or nationality. Take a seaton his rock n roll couch and get some perspective.

The story of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" has it all: a troubled, ambivalent creator, an unforgettable sax riff whose ownership has spawned controversy for almost 50 years, and a mysterious, compelling lyric. One of Scotland's leading artistic lights, Rafferty, who started as partner to the beloved comedian Billy Connolly in The Humblebums, went on the wow the world with Stealer's Wheel's irresistible mega-hit "Stuck in the middle with you, before torpedoing that early success. He refused to tour, and after going solo, became increasingly withdrawn into an alcoholic death-spiral, which ended with his death at age 63. 

Bill and Rich, The Splendid Bohemians relate the story as only they can - with reverence, tempered with their unique perspective. Take a walk with us down BAKER STREET. 

Redd Foxx was one funny motherfucker. And, hell on wheels. Apparently, he was the scourge of taxi drivers in Las Vegas, where he lived, worked, and is buried - because he would either throw up in the backseat of their cabs, or refuse to pay his fare, or both. As the “King of the Party Records”, Redd made 50 dirty albums (I have a few on 8 track) - before hitting national gold on Sanford and Son, that show about a junkman and his boy that ran for six seasons, starting in 1972. I just found out that Foxx’s birth name actually WAS Sanford - a factoid that makes me smile. If fact everything about him made me smile. I loved it each time he’d clutch his chest feigning a heart attack, and groaning “Elizabeth, I’m comin’ to join you, honey!” And, now, hearing Quincy Jone’s theme song again, I’m sporting a broad grin again in remembrance.

Q was a master of innumerable musical genres, coming up as he did as Dinah Washington’s arranger, Sinatra’s band leader, Film scorer par excellence, and Michael Jackson’s record producer, etc, etc. Here he’s channelling Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” - and the funky clavinet makes me want to bob my head along with the syncopation.

Although the character of Fred Sanford was supposed to be in his sixties, Redd was only in his 40s when he made Sanford and Son, and he was only 68 when he died in 1991, having exhausted himself through a jam-packed roller-coaster existence. Rumor has it he died broke because the IRS has seized his assets two years earlier, so Eddie Murphy footed the bill to pay for his funeral.  As Arthur Miller once wrote: “Attention must be paid!”

There was something magical about Rosemary Clooney: the girl next door with the velvet tones. A 1950s dreamboat that you imagined might bring you cocoa on a chilly evening, and rub your temples after you had labored for hours, toiling to create the perfect arrangement for her. A game lady. 

I admit I may have been dazzled by the Show Biz glow reflected onto this goddess from her husband, Academy Winning actor, Jose Ferrer; her brother, Nick, the eminent broadcaster; her son, moody Thespian Miguel; and her handsome ne’er-do well nephew, George…

But, bottom line: It was Rosemary’s voice — the dulcet sound from one of the swingiest jazz divas ever, that kept me, and millions like me, listening.  Her career took a dip, but like I said she was “game” — game enough to attempt to make a record with Wild Man Fischer - the psychotic that Frank Zappa had discovered. She eventually made a comeback that had staying power: this recording was made in 1984, and here, the seasoned, knowing conjurer invites us to drink her feel-good potion, and become re-intoxicated.