Muses

This week Muses and Stuff teams up with the podcast TRAMPS LIKE US with Lee McCormack. In part 1 of this 2 part series Chanty, Lynx and Lee discuss Bruce’s upbringing and the women who made big impacts on his young life.

We take you back to when Bruce Springsteen was a boy- a shy, soft-hearted dreamer. In this episode, you’ll hear about his humble beginnings which include his relationship with his grandmother, mother and sisters as well as how his father affected his attitude and actions towards love. Using Bruce’s memoir and Lee’s steel trap mind and knowledge, we go over Bruce’s early relationships, girlfriends, one night stands and his marriage to Julianne Phillips.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we talk about his enduring relationship and marriage with Patti Scialfa!

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We couldn’t be more excited to share this weeks interview with the beautiful, talently and supremely lovely Maureen Van Zandt!

Maureen has had quite an incredible life and it was such a joy to hear some of her stories! Her passion for dance and the theatre has been the center of her life since she was a young girl leading her to work both on and off Broadway. She has built an amazing career for herself, not just dancing and acting but developing her own theatre companies and producing the plays the matter to her most. In this episode, Maureen talks about some of the more memorable plays she’s participated in and her latest theatre company, Renegade Theatre, which she created with Soprano’s co-star and friend Vincent Pastore.

Maureen also shares with us her passion for music. When the British Invasion hit, so did Maureen’s love of rock n roll. When she wasn’t dancing, teenage Maureen could be found working at a record shop, going to concerts and hanging at all the hot spots where the coolest names in rock n roll visited. Maureen tells us some incredible stories from those early years, like taking a ride in James Brown’s Purple Caddy as well as visiting Electric Lady Studios where she listened to the Jimi Hendrix Experience lay down some tracks!

As if that weren’t Rock N Roll enough, wait until you hear about Maureen’s wedding to her husband of 36 years, Stevie Van Zandt! She tells us the story of how they met and all about what was no doubt the most rockin’ wedding party ever!

One of the MANY reasons we love the Van Zandt’s is for their outstanding philanthropy. Maureen tells us about some incredible programs such as Little Kids Rock, The Rock n Roll Forever Foundation and their incredible curriculum TeachRock which is not only now used in classrooms across America but can also be accessed online, all for free, over at teachrock.org. We discuss the importance of women supporting one another and the joy that can be found from teaching others.

Maureen is also a fellow podcaster! Learn about her new venture Generation Gap, how the idea came about and how much fun her and co-host Josh Accardo have talking all things pop culture!

Check out Maureens podcast at https://soundcloud.com/gengapnation as well as iTunes & follow them on twitter, https://twitter.com/GENGAPNATION

Make sure to also check out http://www.rockandrollforever.org, teachrock.org and www.littlekidsrock.org/,

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This week Lynx shares the story behind the unique friendship of two iconic artists, Patti Smith & Robert Mapplethorpe. After discovering the arts at a very young age Patti Smith dreamed of not only becoming an artist herself but to find a partner to share inspiration with. At age 20, on her first day as a New Yorker she found just that. Patti and Robert Mapplethorpe immediately hit it off and were soon living together, working side by side. Patti and Robert were your typical young, starving artists, creating nonstop and earning just enough to scrape by. Money may have been sparse but they had all they needed in each other. “One cannot imagine the mutual happiness we felt when we sat and drew together. We would get lost for hours.” Together they made a vow to never leave the other until both felt ready to stand on their own.

Over time their relationship would begin to shift, but their bond remained strong. Robert began to explore his interest in men and while that initially came as a shock to Patti she always supported him through that journey. “His drives toward men were consuming but I never felt loved any less. We kept our vow, neither would leave the other. I never saw him through the lens of his sexuality. My picture of him remained intact. He was the artist of my life.” Patti also began to date others and had memorable relationships with fellow writers Jim Carroll and Sam Shepard.

In those early years when Patti and Robert weren’t busy working in their tiny apartment at the legendary Hotel Chelsea one could find them downstairs at the El Quixote or in the back room of Max's Kansas City, mingling with fellow artists like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Neuwirth, Todd Rundgren and the Andy Warhol Crowd. Neither had yet found the medium they would become most known for, but each seemed to be able to sense where the other belonged with Patti constantly encouraging Robert to pick up a camera and take photos and Robert trying his hardest to get Patti to perform her poetry onstage. They never gave up on their art or each other and soon each began to find success. Robert finally did pick up that camera and started getting shows at galleries while Patti began to perform at poetry readings with Lenny Kaye on guitar beside her. Not only did that lead to Patti getting her poetry published, she also realized the stage is where she belonged and officially formed a band. Each came into their own and succeeded in their vow.

The night before Robert passed away Patti made one last vow. “I told him I would continue our work, our collaboration, for as long as I lived. Will you write our story? Do you want me to? You have to, he said, no one but you can write it. I will do it I promised.” In 2010 Patti fulfilled that promise and Just Kids was published. It is an incredibly touching, beautifully written love letter to Robert and their time together. Be sure you check it out to learn even more about Patti and Robert.

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 This week Chanty presents the story of Rita Rae Roxx based on her book Once Upon a Rock Star: Backstage Passes in the Heavy Metal Eighties – Big Hair, Bad Boys (and One Bad[...]

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Today Lynx and Chanty introduce you to Sami Harris- an LA doll who they met through the Queen- Pamela Des Barres! Sami Harris is 20 year old writer, social media influencer, music journalist and yogi[...]

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This week Lynx tells Chanty all about the delightful Ann Moses! When Ann scored herself a job at Tiger Beat Magazine she, like it’s readers, was just a teen herself. Within a few short years she would go from a part time editorial assistant to editor in chief of the ever growing tween magazine. If you’re picturing her stuck at some desk… think again. Ann spent the majority of her time outside the office. You may have found her traveling on tour buses with Tiger Beat faves like Paul Revere & The Raiders , Dino, Desi & Billy and Standells, or hanging out on tv and film sets like Where the Action Is, The Monkees and The Flying Nun. Ann would also have the opportunity to see groups like The Mamas & The Papas, Jefferson Airplane and The Bee Gees in the recording studio and could always be found backstage or in the front row for concerts such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Monterey Pop Festival.

Ann worked hard to create personal pieces she knew the readers would love and had a blast doing so. She had exclusive onset access to The Monkees and spent hours with the boys for material for her monthly Monkee column (You’ll have to tune in to hear what she thought about the boys!). As she says in her memoir “It rarely occurred to me back then, that I was living the dreams of the girls I was writing for: Hanging out with cute teen idol rock stars until the wee hours, having the very kind of chaste fun I was forced to write about. Well, mostly chaste”. When Ann met Maurice Gibb from the Bee Gees sparks flew and she soon found herself staying at the Gibb residence in England. There, the pair began to fall in love, though not everyone was happy about that (we’re looking at you Lulu!).

While Ann managed to keep her own inner fangirl in check while working she was not always immune. When she got chosen to be one of the lucky few to sit at ELVIS PRESLEY’s feet during his comeback tv special she was ecstatic & even more so when she watched and discovered her face superimposed over his when he sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. The King never did personal interviews, but that didn’t stop Ann from getting onset of one of his films and meeting the man himself!

Ann’s fantastic memoir Meow! My Groovy Life with Tiger Beats Teen Idols is filled with so many incredible stories there was just too many to fit into one episode! There is plenty more where this came from and you can purchase it where ever books are sold. Be sure to also check out her website http://annmoses.com/ for more groovy stories that didn’t make it into her book!

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Avery Florence is a Toronto based artist. Avery’s EP January which was recorded live off the floor was released earlier this year and it is SO GOOD. When Avery walked in to record, Lynx and[...]

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This week we take you all the way back to the 1960’s to a log cabin nestled in Laurel Canyon. Chanty tells Lynx the story of Pauline Butcher, Frank Zappa’s secretary. This episode is based on her book: FREAK OUT! My life with Frank Zappa.

So how did a secretary from England come to know, befriend and even live with Frank Zappa, his wife Gail and all of the “freaks” in Laurel Canyon? Who is Suzy Creamcheese? What was it like living in a log cabin where anyone including Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull , Captain Beefheart, Graham Nash or Joni Mitchell might walk through the door on any given day?

To our squealing delight, we learn that Pauline became close with our beloved GTOs (The Girls Together Outrageously), documenting their formation, beginning and wacky time together. We remind our listeners where the word “Groupie” came from and go back to a time when Hollywood was a trusting community and you just never knew who might stop by or what might happen.

Other notable characters we chat about this week is (of course) our amazing Pamela Des Barres (the most “professional” of the girls), Cynthia Plaster Caster, Miss Mercy, Christine (the Zappa’s babysitter), Tiny Tim and like always- it seems-Eric Clapton. Take a break from the cold February winter and join us in warm Laurel Canyon, it sure is a trip!

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This week Lynx takes you Greenwich Village in the 1960’s where poetry, politics and folk music take center stage. As a “red diaper baby” with 2 Communist parents, political activism was built into Suze’s DNA. As a young teenager Suze Rotolo began hanging out in Greenwich Village with other like-minded friends and was soon a fixture at clubs such as Gerdes Folk City, The Gaslight, Kettle of Fish and The Bitter End. Places that launched the careers of many folk singers such as Dave Van Ronk, Judy Collins, Peter, Paul and Mary, ODETTA and of course Bob Dylan.

When remembering their first encounter, Bob said “I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen. We started talking and my head started to spin. Cupids arrow had whistled past my ears before, but this time it hit me in the heart and the weight of it dragged me overboard.” Just like that Dylan met his first, and most important Muse. Bob had only recently moved to NYC from his small town in Minnesota and it was through Suze that he would not only discover many of the poets and writers that would greatly influence his work but also learn about the political issues he would soon be known for writing about.

But as Dylan began to make a name for himself Suze could feel hers being diminished. “All that was offered to a musicians girlfriend in the early 60’s was a role as her boyfriend’s “chick”, a string on his guitar. In the case of Bob’s rising fame, I would be gatekeeper, one step closer to an idol. People would want to know me just to get closer to him. My significance would be based on his greater significance. That idea did not entice.”

But Suze was much more than just a string on Dylan’s guitar. Or the girl walking down the street with him on the cover of A Freewheelin' Time.

In 2008 she published her fantastic memoir A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties. Tune in to hear all about her journey.

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 This week Chanty brings you the story of Carol Ann Harris and her 9 year relationship with Lindsey Buckingham. We dive deep into the inner circle that is the Fleetwood Mac family thank you[...]

The post EP 60: Carol Ann Harris and Lindsey Buckingham appeared first on Muses and Stuff Podcast.

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