Steve Earle – Guitar Town

It’s been too long since I posted a Steve Earle song, and it was time. I remember this one, along with I Ain’t Ever Satisfied got me into Earle in the 1980s. I first saw him in the late eighties open up for Bob Dylan. He played a longer set than Bob that night. Bob had to leave after 45 minutes because he got sick. The guy behind me yelled, “I know you are an old SOB but come on…” Bob was at the ripe old age of 48 when this happened.

By 1986, Steve Earle had been around Nashville for years. He had written songs for other artists, worked with legendary songwriters like Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. He spent a lot of time trying to get his own career off the ground. When Guitar Town was released as the title track of his debut album, it sounded different from much of what was coming out of Nashville at the time. It had country roots, but there was also a rock and roll energy running through it. The song helped launch Earle from respected songwriter to recording star.

Earle has said the meaning behind Guitar Town came from the struggles of a musician trying to make it. The lyrics tell the story of a young man leaving home with a guitar and dreams of success. Earle knew that world firsthand. He had spent years playing clubs, writing songs, and trying to find his place in the music business. The song captured both the excitement and gamble of trying a musical career. Even people who never picked up a guitar could relate to the idea of leaving home and taking a chance on a dream.

Earle was also very smart and talented. He would regularly hang out with some great songwriters and musicians. Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, and more. He learned from them, and you can hear it in his songs. When I hear his songs, they are so accessible. They are almost inviting you to listen.

The recording sessions for the album were produced by Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr. They gave the songs a tougher edge. Guitar Town featured ringing guitars and enough country flavor to fit the format while still sounding fresh. The combination worked. The single helped make the album one of the most acclaimed country releases of the year.

Looking back, Guitar Town helped open the door for a generation of artists who mixed traditional country music and folk with rock influences. Earle would go on to have a long and diverse career, but this song remains one of his signature recordings. Nearly forty years later, it still sounds like a young man with a guitar, a full tank of gas, and no intention of turning around.

Guitar Town

Hey pretty baby, are you ready for me
It’s your good rockin’ daddy down from Tennessee
I’m just out of Austin bound for San Antone
With the radio blastin’ and the bird dog on

There’s a speed trap up ahead in Selma Town
But no local yokel gonna shut me down
‘Cause me and my boys got this rig unwound
And we’ve come a thousand miles from a Guitar Town

Nothin’ ever happened ’round my hometown
And I ain’t the kind to just hang around
But I heard someone callin’ my name one day
And I followed that voice down the lost highway
Everybody told me you can’t get far
On 37 dollars and a jap guitar
Now I’m smokin’ into Texas with the hammer down
And a rockin’ little combo from the Guitar Town

Hey pretty baby don’t you know it ain’t my fault
I love to hear the steel belts hummin’ on the asphalt
Wake up in the middle of the night in a truck stop
Stumble in the restaurant wonderin’ why I don’t stop

Well, I gotta keep rockin’ why I still can
Got a two pack habit and a motel tan
When my boots hit the boards I’m a brand new man
With my back to the riser, I make my stand

Hey pretty baby, won’t you hold me tight
I’m loadin’ up and rollin’ out of here tonight
One of these days, I’m gonna settle down
And take you back with me to the Guitar Town

Roxy Music – Virginia Plain

This is one band, for one reason or another, that I’ve never posted. I tell people that their early music has some of the best bass sound of anyone. Ferry’s vocals in this song remind me a little of Lou Reed.

When I first saw the title Virginia Plain, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. That’s part of the charm of the song. It was released in 1972 as the debut single by Roxy Music; this song pretty much announced that this was not going to be just another rock band. It was glam, strange, catchy, and different.

Roxy Music was led by Bryan Ferry and featured a really good lineup that included Brian Eno. Ferry wrote this song and took the title from a painting he had created while attending art school. The song is interesting. The lyrics are full of images and characters that seem to come and go like scenes in a movie. I always heard it as a song that is more about creating a mood.

The recording was produced by Peter Sinfield; he was best known for his work with King Crimson. Musically, the song blended old rock and roll influences with futuristic sounds. It’s different thanks in part to Eno’s synthesizer and Ferry’s vocals. The result was something fresh and exciting. Although it was recorded after the band’s debut album had already been completed, the song was later added to subsequent editions because it quickly became one of their signature tracks.

This song was successful in the UK and helped establish Roxy Music as one of the most important bands of the glam rock era. Looking back, it still sounds unique. More than fifty years later, it remains a perfect introduction to a band that never seemed interested in following the rules. If you want to hear the moment Roxy Music arrived, this is a pretty good place to start.

The song peaked at #4 on the UK Charts and #6 in New Zealand. The album peaked at #10 in the UK in 1972. BTW… the model featured on the cover of Roxy Music’s album is Kari-Ann Muller. No, she, unlike their other models, didn’t date Bryan Ferry. She married Chris Jagger, Mick’s brother.

Virginia Plain

Make me a deal and make it straight
All signed and sealed, I’ll take it
To Robert E. Lee, I’ll show it
I hope and pray he don’t blow it ’cause

We’ve been around a long time
Just tryin’ to, tryin’ to but you
Make the big time

Take me on a roller coaster
Take me for an airplane ride
Take me for a six days wonder but
Don’t you, don’t you throw my pride aside besides

What’s real and make-believe?
Baby Jane’s in Acapulco
We are flyin’ down to Rio

Throw me a line, I’m sinking fast
Clutching at straws, can’t make it
Havana sound, we’re trying
A hard edge, the hipster jiving, oh
Last picture shows down the drive-in

You’re so sheer, you’re so chic
Teenage rebel of the week

Flavours of the mountain streamline
Midnight blue casino floors
Dance the cha-cha through ’til sunrise
Opens up exclusive doors, oh wow

Just like flamingos, look the same
So me and you, just we two
Got to search for something new

Far beyond the pale horizon
Some place near the desert strand
Where my Studebaker takes me
That’s where I’ll make my stand, but wait

Can’t you see that Holzer mane
What’s her name? Virginia Plain

6 String Drag – Gasoline Maybelline

With that title, I was helpless; I had to give it a try. I’m glad I did because it’s a great song and band. This is another band that was signed by Steve Earle on his E Squared Records label and another winner. What drew me in was the vocals. Not tight pop vocals but more like The Band’s loose style. I’ll also mention the intro that builds and builds.

Every now and then you run across a song title that makes you stop before you even hear the music. This song by 6 String Drag was one of those for me. The title immediately brings to mind hot rods, rock and roll, and the classic Chuck Berry song Maybellene. It turns out the music delivers exactly what the title promises. This song was released on the band’s 1997 album High Hat, the song mixed country, rockabilly, and roots rock into a sound that felt both old and new.

6 String Drag was formed in North Carolina and became one of the leading bands in the alt-country movement of the 1990s. While many groups in that scene leaned heavily into country influences, 6 String Drag never forgot the rock and roll side. This track is a perfect example. Driven by guitars, drums, and a stop-and-go format. It’s a great mixture of music that makes one.

The album High Hat was produced by Steve Earle, who recognized the band’s talent and helped bring them to a wider audience. Earle encouraged the group to embrace their love of traditional American music while keeping their own identity intact. The result was an album that blended country, rock, folk, and roots music in a way that sounded natural. This song became one of their signature songs and remains a favorite among fans of the band.

6 String Drag never achieved the huge commercial success of some of their contemporaries like Wilco and others. Songs like this show why they are still remembered by fans of Americana and alt-country. It has energy, great musicianship, and one of the coolest song titles you’ll ever hear.

If any of you are good at deciphering lyrics…could you fill in the ? in the lyrics? If so, please let me know, and I’ll fill it in. We will have the only complete lyrics to this song on the net!

Gasoline Maybelline

Soak me in gasoline
If you need more fire baby
I gave you everything it seems but me

Put me up higher than the tallest tree
I’ll come down baby then you’ll see
My broken knees please set me free

I can hold you [?] you
Oh come, don’t turn around
I’ll be gone

Go find somebody new
There’s nothing here for you
I gave you everything it seems but me

Take me down all the way to New Orleans
Leave me lying there on the street
I gave you everything it seems but me

I can hold you [?] you
Oh come, don’t turn around
I’ll be gone

Soak me in gasoline
If you need more fire baby
I gave you everything it seems but me
I gave you everything it seems but me

Jeff Beck & The Big Town Playboys – Crazy Legs …album review

I started to listen to this album and got hooked from the opening song. I kept listening to the entire album over and over. This could have been recorded in the 1950s… that’s how close they are to that sound.

Most people know Jeff Beck for his blazing guitar work on albums like Blow by Blow and Wired, but in 1993 he surprised a lot of fans by taking a sharp turn into rockabilly. Beck teamed up with the British revival group The Big Town Playboys to record Crazy Legs, an album dedicated to the music of Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps. For Beck, it was a chance to pay tribute to guitarist Cliff Gallup, the man he often called his biggest influence as a young player.

The Big Town Playboys had built a reputation in Britain by recreating the rhythm and blues, rockabilly, and jump blues sounds of the 1940s and 1950s. They were fronted by vocalist and pianist Mike Sanchez, the band was already well known among musicians. Beck had admired their work and felt they were the perfect group to help recreate the sound and spirit of Gene Vincent’s classic recordings.

The album was recorded and mixed at The Townhouse Studios in London and was produced by Stuart Colman. Rather than modernizing the songs, Beck and the band tried to capture the energy of the original recordings. They succeeded so well that I would have never guessed it was recorded in 1993.

The track list included Gene Vincent favorites such as Race With the Devil, Cruisin’, Pink Thunderbird, and the title track Crazy Legs. One of my favorites is Double Talkin’ Baby, where Beck just rips the guitar. His guitar work is remarkable because he deliberately restrained himself. Instead of the wah-wah-bar fireworks that made him famous, he focused on honoring Cliff Gallup’s style, showing just how deeply those early rockabilly records had shaped him. I could go on and on with the songs…but you’re essentially getting an album full of Gene Vincent’s sound, songs, energy, and a lotta love from Beck. It’s really hard to beat that.

Crazy Legs was never intended to be a huge commercial album. It hardly dented the charts, but that was never really the point. The record was a labor of love from a legendary guitarist paying his respects to one of his heroes. For fans who only know Jeff Beck from his later instrumental work, this album offers a look at the music that inspired him in the first place. Sometimes the best way to understand a great musician is to hear what they were listening to when they were young, and Crazy Legs does exactly that.

Here is a short concert at Ronnie Scotts! Great music and vibe

The Prisoner – Once Upon A Time

January 25, 1968 Season 1 Episode 16

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This episode is basically a two-person show. Some of the best acting happens in this episode, and it is a life-and-death match between Number 2 and 6. One thing about this episode. It was recorded much earlier; it was the 6th show filmed. That is why Leo McKern, who appears in this, has a slightly different look in the last one.

As the series nears its end, Number Two decides there is only one way left to break Number Six. He takes him deep beneath the Village and subjects him to a process called “Degree Absolute.” The method strips away layers of a person’s life and personality. Number Six is forced to relive stages of his past. He moves backward through adulthood, youth, childhood, and even infancy. Number Two hopes that somewhere along the way he will discover why Number Six resigned and finally make him reveal his secrets.

Some of the very best acting is in this episode between Patrick McGoohan and a return of Leo McKern as Number 2. It is one of my favorite episodes. I’ll drop a little trivia here before we continue. The strain of filming this episode caused Leo McKern to suffer either a nervous breakdown or a heart attack (accounts differ), forcing production to stop for a time. You can tell how tense it was by just watching.

Most of the episode takes place in a single room. There are few sets and very little action. Instead, it becomes a contest between the two men. Number Two pushes and tries very much to manipulate. Number Six resists every step of the way. It’s like an emotional chess or tennis match. At times the process seems to be working. At other times Number Six turns the tables on Number 6. The line between prisoner and interrogator begins to blur. Patrick McGoohan and Leo McKern carry nearly the entire episode by themselves.

By the end, the strain becomes too much for both men. Number Six refuses to surrender the one thing he has fought to protect throughout the series, his individuality. The contest leaves both men exhausted and broken. Rather than finding the answers he wants, Number Two finds himself trapped by the very process he hoped would beat Number Six. It is one of the most intense episodes of The Prisoner. Two powerful personalities locked in a struggle over freedom and control. There is more, but I’ll let you watch and find out.

This was originally going to be the final episode of the first season. When it was decided to end the series, McGoohan used it as the springboard for the final episode he filmed to sum up the story. McGoohan has said this was his favorite episode of the series. Be Seeing You!

Ray Davies – The Big Guy

I first heard this song a few years ago on someone else’s blog. After hearing his lyrics, I knew there had to be some big influence around it. The song was about three different things. One, his bodyguards who would save him from himself on tour. Two, Davies nearly lost his life in New Orleans when he chased a man who had stolen his girlfriend’s purse and was subsequently shot in the leg. Three, the title also alludes to God. The track explores the idea that you are never truly alone or abandoned “as long as the big guy” is there.

It comes from Ray Davies’ 2018 album Our Country: Americana Act II. Like much of the album, the song draws from Ray’s own life and experiences in America. By this point, Davies had little left to prove as a songwriter. Instead, he was looking back on the people and events that shaped his life. That gives “The Big Guy” a personal feel that makes it stand out on the record.

The inspiration for the song goes back to a frightening event in 2004. While in New Orleans, Davies chased a man who had stolen a purse from his companion and was shot in the leg during the confrontation. Years later, he reflected on waking up in the hospital and thinking about the bodyguards and friends who had looked after him over the years. The “big guy” of the title was partly inspired by those men. There is humor in the song, but there is also gratitude. Davies was looking back at a moment that could have ended very differently.

The album was recorded with members of the Jayhawks, who also played on Americana. Their playing gives the song a warm sound. The sessions focused on storytelling rather than a big commercial production. That approach fits Davies perfectly. He has always been one of rock’s great storytellers, and this album shows that.

What I like about the song is that it shows another side of Ray Davies. It’s thoughtful and reflective in a way that is a little different from the Kinks.

Ray Davies: “‘The Big Guy’ is reflections on waking up in a hospital with gunshot wounds. The big guys in the book [2013’s Americana] are my bodyguards, a guy called Tony and a guy called Bobby. The song is about them and what they meant to me, because I have a tendency to self-destruct on tour, like most musicians. Tony was under instructions that if I had more than two pints he could break my arm – or threaten to.”

Ray talks about writing the song here:

The Big Guy

Everybody’s afraid of the big guy called the gorilla
Wish you could be here today now I’m lying in the gutter
Though the cop car surrounds me I feel afraid
Now I’m lying here staring at the pearly gates

Tony, Tony you gave me security
You were a minder extraordinaire
And I miss you now that you’re not there

Terrified and in a fret
Like a child who’s lost his mother
Shivering in a cold, cold sweat
With my face in the gutter

Bobby, Bobby you gave me security
And Tony, Tony you did the same for me
Now you’re both sadly demised
I can’t believe I’m still alive

Bobby came out of Chicago
To give me a helping hand
He sat me down when I acted so sloppy
And he did the same for my whole band

Tony came out of South London
He was a cockney boy
He saved my ass back in ’82
When I acted such a silly boy

Come on man, don’t be a fool
Come on man, you’re gonna crawl
One day you’re gonna fall

Everybody’s afraid of the big guy called the gorilla
But he was never heavy, out of hand
In fact he was as gentle as a lamb

Tony, Tony you gave me security
You know
Tony, Tony you gave me security
Minder extraordinaire
I miss you now that you’re not there
Yeah I miss you now that you’re not there
No you’re never alone as long as the big guy’s there

Ricky Nelson

On Turn Table Talk, the topic was “It’s No Act!” . We all can think of musicians who’ve tried to make the leap to acting – David Bowie, Cher, Sting, among many others – but this month we’re looking at actors/actresses or other celebrities who’ve decided to try to launch a music career after being noted in other entertainment fields. I picked Ricky Nelson. Thanks Dave!

I think Ricky Nelson is one of the few examples of actors who went into music and were remembered as musicians. He was a good actor, but he will be remembered more as a musician.

I went through a Ricky Nelson phase when I graduated in 1985. I purchased a greatest-hits package and was learning more of his songs. I wanted to go see him perform that year, and I kept waiting for him to appear somewhere because I heard he was touring. This was before the internet, and you had to read the newspapers for announcements and listen to the radio. Musicians would play at places, and you would never know sometimes.

I never got a chance to see him because on December 31, 1985, his chartered jet crashed, killing him and six other passengers. Ricky was a rockabilly guy and a great one. He gets lost in the shuffle because he was a huge teenage actor at the time on his family’s show…The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In the rock world, being a teen idol knocks you down the respect ladder.

Before Ricky Nelson became one of the biggest teen idols of the 1950s, he was already a television star. He was born in 1940 into a show business family. His parents, Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson, starred in the popular radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ricky appeared on the show as himself beginning in the early 1950s. Millions of viewers watched him grow up on screen each week. By the time he reached his teenage years, he was already one of the most recognizable young faces in America.

Music came almost by accident. Ricky wanted to impress a girl (she was a massive Elvis fan) and claimed he was a recording artist. To make the story true, he recorded Fats Domino’s I’m Walkin’ in 1957. The song became a hit. Soon he was recording regularly and turning out hits such as Poor Little Fool, Travelin’ Man, and Hello Mary Lou. Unlike many teen stars of the era, Nelson worked with strong musicians and was full tilt in rockabilly and early rock and roll.

As the 1960s arrived, Nelson continued acting while building a successful music career. He later dropped the “Ricky” and became known as Rick Nelson. His sound matured and moved toward country rock before the style became popular. While television gave him his start, music became his legacy. He is remembered as one of the few entertainers who successfully made the jump from television star to respected recording artist.

The sad part is that his music wasn’t taken as seriously later on because he was a teen idol. That started to change over time, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987. I always considered Rick Nelson a musician and a great rockabilly artist, along with country rock. I always considered him the real deal.

I’ve heard the phrase “The universal language is not music, nor love; it is loneliness,” and this song fits it perfectly.

Mick Taylor – Broken Hands

Mick Taylor was in the Stones during their most successful period. That wasn’t a coincidence. He was probably the most talented guitar player they ever had. That’s not a knock on Brian Jones or Ron Wood; he was just that good. I had no clue that he could sing as well, so this was a treat when someone sent me a link to this. You can hear his style and connect the dots to that sound. When he left the Stones, it was never replaced. Ronnie Wood plays in a different style altogether.

This song is one of the standout tracks from Mick Taylor’s self-titled debut solo album, released in 1979. The album arrived five years after Taylor left the Rolling Stones, where he had earned a reputation as one of the best guitarists in rock music. While the record never became a commercial success, it gave Taylor a chance to step out from the shadow of the Stones and show what he could do as a songwriter, singer, and bandleader. This song was tucked away near the end of side one and remains one of the album’s hidden gems.

The sessions for the album spanned several years, from 1976 to 1979. Recording took place at several studios in England, including Island Studios, Ramport Studios, Ridge Farm, and the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. Taylor produced the album himself and played many of the instruments. On this song, he handled guitar, vocals, and bass guitar duties. The song has a loose rock feel with traces of blues and the melodic style that he did with the Stones.

Like much of the album, the song arrived at the wrong time commercially. By 1979, punk and new wave were dominating the music press while Taylor was delivering a blues-rock record. The album stalled on the charts, but over the years it has gained a loyal following among Rolling Stones fans and guitar enthusiasts. He was a complete musician who just happened to spend his most famous years standing next to some very large shadows that included John Mayall, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger.

Broken Hands

Yeah, I got broken hands, God

Feel so loose and I feel so free
Running so fast that you can’t catch me
Play the night like a dream machine
Play my guitar ’cause I feel so mean

Drivin’ down the highway
Trying to get ahead
And I shake the blues away, yeah
Yeah, broken hands, I’m a broken man

Ah baby, where are we?
Howling winds on a heavy sea
Always think that you got it made
I can never see you behind your shades

Fools are around me, the devils inside
So much craziness to exercise
Let’s get small and get some lovin’ done
This life’s so hard, hit and run

There’s nothin’ happenin’ here, anyway
If we sit around much longer we’re gonna slide away
Mesmerizing, washed out eyes
Users and losers, hypnotized

I like music that sounds so sweet
I like to dance and move my feet
When I hear such a heavy sound
Come on baby, let’s get down

Drivin’ down the highway
I’m just trying to get ahead
And shake these blues away
There’s nothin’ happenin’ here, anyway

Yeah, broken hands, I’m down and out
Gimme a smile and I’ll pull ya out
Yeah, broken hands

Yeah, broken hands, I’m a broken man
Yeah, broken hands, I’m down and out
Gimme a smile and I’ll pull ya out

Drifters – There Goes My Baby

Sometimes I need a 1950s song, and the Drifters are a group that can give it. Some songs are timeless and could have been released at any time. Some are tied to an era. This one is, and in the best possible way. This is a transport song, a song that transports you to a certain era even if you weren’t there. Well, at least to your version of the era. These songs have cool chord structures, and many are both depressing and uplifting at the same time.

There Goes My Baby was a turning point for the Drifters and for rhythm and blues music itself. Released in 1959, the song sounded unlike anything else on the radio. The group had already enjoyed success, but this record took them in a completely new direction. It blended R&B, pop, and orchestral music in a way that was almost unheard of at the time. Today it is considered one of the most influential records of the late 1950s.

The song was written by Ben E. King along with Lover Patterson and George Treadwell. Producer Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wanted to create something different from the standard R&B records of the day. The session featured strings and a Latin-flavored rhythm. Some people in the music business thought the record sounded strange and would never become a hit. Fortunately, they were wrong. You have the great Ben E. King’s lead vocal. His voice gave the song both power and its heartbreak.

The song became a major hit and helped reshape popular music. The song reached the Top 10 and opened the door for more ambitious productions in soul and pop music. Looking back, it is easy to hear how records from the 1960s were influenced by it. More than sixty years later, it still sounds fresh. Not bad for a song that many people thought was too unusual to succeed.

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100 and #2 on the Billboard R&B Charts in 1959.

I’ve only done this once, but sometimes I run across amateurs doing a cover of a song. Rarely do I stop and think, oh I must post this. She is far from perfect in this, but she knows what the song is about. This is really a simple version, but she finds the essence of this song. You can hear cars pass by while she is doing this. It shows you how great the song is when you can express it perfectly over a lone acoustic and a voice. She goes by “Blazin’ Blair” and this was like 15 years ago. She has appeared on local tv stations where she lives. It’s lo-fi and raw, but the spirit is there. Something about it…hit me the right way…especially the intro.

There Goes My Baby

Bom-bom (do-do-do-do-do)
There she goes (do-do-do-do-do)
There she goes (do-do-do-do-do)
Bom-bom (do-do-do-do)
Bom-bom (do-do-do-do)

There goes my baby, movin’ on down the line
Wonder where, wonder where, wonder where she is bound?
I broke her heart and made her cry
Now I’m alone, so all alone
What can I do, what can I do?

There goes my baby (whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh)
There goes my baby (yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)
There goes my baby (whoa-oh-oh-oh)
There she goes, yeah, there she goes

I wanna know if she loved me
Did she really love me?
Was she just playing me for a fool?
I wonder why she left me
Why did she leave me so all alone?
So all alone?
I was gonna tell her that I loved her
And that I need her
Beside my side to be my guide

I wanna know, where is my – (do-do-do-do-do)
Where is my baby? (Do-do-do-do-do)
I want my baby (do-do-do-do-do)
I need my baby (do-do-do-do-do)
Yeah, whoa-oh-oh

There goes my baby
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
There goes my baby

The Arctic Ship SS Endurance

The Arctic Ship SS Endurance

I want to thank all of you for helping me get this new blog about ships off the ground. I won’t continue to reblog indefinitely, I don’t think, but I just wanted to give it a boost. After The Prisoner is finished, I will probably only blog on https://oldsteamships.blog on Fridays unless I have a post that doesn’t fit on the weekend. I plan to do one post on Fridays, period, and on that other blog….and my regular posts on the weekend on this one…that won’t change…only Fridays.

The Prisoner – The Girl Who Was Death

January 18, 1968 Season 1 Episode 15

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

The script for this show was a leftover script from McGoohan’s earlier show Danger Man. They turned it into a Prisoner episode, and yes, it gets confusing. I’ll do my best to explain this one, but explaining the next two episodes will be hard. I watched this episode, and I was wondering how they could make it make sense. They do!

This is one of the most unusual episodes of The Prisoner. Number Six is enjoying a rare day outside the Village (you don’t know how or why) when he encounters a mysterious young woman who seems determined to kill him after she already killed someone else. She uses one elaborate trap after another. She has already killed another spy. Number Six barely escapes each one. At first, he has no idea why he is being targeted. The episode is more like a spy adventure than a typical Village story.

It quickly turns into something closer to a comic-strip adventure. A glamorous assassin and a smug announcer push the story into a world where danger is real, but everything is staged like entertainment. The Girl herself is the main weapon; she’s charming, always one step ahead, and the whole thing plays out like a game designed to break his rhythm and make him look foolish.

As the story unfolds, Number Six discovers that the woman is working for her father, a dangerous scientist who has created a weapon capable of threatening Britain. The scientist hides his plans behind riddles, clues, and puzzles. Number Six follows the trail across the countryside. Along the way, he faces more traps and narrow escapes. The episode is filled with disguises, secret messages, and a sense of fun that is very different from the darker episodes of the series.

In the end, Number Six uncovers the scientist’s plan and races to stop the weapon before it can be used. The final confrontation reveals that things are not quite what they seem. That’s all I’ll say, or I would give it away. That’s what makes this show fun. They can explain almost anything with the Village. It remains one of the most debated and unique episodes in the entire series that is full of them.

The character “Bowler” is portrayed by an actor named John Drake. Not only is John Drake the name of Patrick McGoohan’s character in his old show Danger Man, but it is also possibly the true identity of Number 6 in this show. McGoohan hired Drake because he was amused by the coincidence. Be Seeing You!

…

Puppies Galore

A few months ago, I posted about us finding a Great Pyrenees we named Buddy. Well, we found the owner, but not before Buddy left us a gift- or 8 gifts that keep giving. On May 8, Martha had 8 puppies between midnight and 5 in the morning…without further ado…here they are!

Buddy is at his home, and Martha is doing well and has been a super mom. It’s been an adventure for all of us. We barricade them in a room, and they bust out. Usually the one leading the charge is the only one that has a name…Cosmo…and that would be number 6 on here. Of course, we picked him out to keep before we knew of Mr. Cosmo’s rebellious nature. Some of their paws are brownish in the pictures; that would be them getting to eat off a plate for the first time. What’s the fun in that when they can romp in it as well!

Max’s Drive-In Movie – Steamboat Bill Jr.

It’s hard to tell you how big of a fan of Buster Keaton I am. Not only do I love his on-screen character, but his filmmaking techniques are still second to none. I got to know Buster through reading about Clara Bow. First, about his Sunset Boulevard cameo, and then I went back and watched his films. The Navigator, The General, Sherlock Jr., Battling Butler, and, of course, Steamboat Bill Jr. I also watched his “shorts” that he made before features. There was no one like him. No one took a fall like he did. He was a natural acrobat. He didn’t use stunt men because the stunt men would say they could not do it like Buster Keaton. This movie has the most famous scene of Buster Keaton’s film career and possibly of silent movies in general.

He was a little off kilter compared to his comedy peers. He was more subtle than Chaplin or Harold Lloyd. Keaton used non-movement to his advantage. You would see him in a crowd easily. They would be moving along, and his stillness would get your attention. Buster was also an excellent filmmaker with the way he paced a movie. He didn’t fake stunts…he didn’t like cutting in at the last minute. He wanted the scene to be filmed in one shot and completely natural. Ok, enough of my love for Buster Keaton.. .well, nah, I’ll continue.

Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. was released in 1928. It came near the end of the silent film era. Keaton plays William Canfield Jr., a young man who returns home to spend time with his Riverboat Captain dad after years away at college. His father, Steamboat Bill Canfield, is a tough old riverboat captain who is disappointed to find his son is more interested in music and fashion than life on the river. A generation gap that has been going on since time began. The film centers on their rocky relationship and a rivalry between competing steamboat owners. The scenes between Buster and Ernest Torrence, who plays his father, are very funny.

The movie was filmed during one of the most difficult periods of Keaton’s career. He was still making films independently before losing much of his creative freedom after signing with MGM. Even so, he poured everything he had into this production. The river scenes were expensive and complicated to film. Entire sets were built and later destroyed for the movie’s famous storm sequence.

Today, Steamboat Bill, Jr. is remembered for one of the greatest stunts in film history. During a tornado scene, the front wall of a house falls directly toward Keaton. He survives because he stands in the exact spot where an open window passes around him. There were no special effects. No trick photography. If he had missed his mark by even a few inches, he could have been seriously injured or killed. The front of that building weighed 2 tons, so it would not twist in the wind. The scene remains one of the most famous moments in silent film. The director turned his head away during that scene because he feared Buster would misjudge it.

Although the movie was not a major box office success when it was released, its reputation grew over the years. Many film historians now consider it one of Keaton’s masterpieces. Nearly a century later, this movie still feels relatable and shows why Buster Keaton is still remembered.

The making of Steamboat Bill, Jr. was almost as dramatic as the film itself. During production in 1927, the devastating Mississippi River floods were still fresh in the public’s mind. Keaton’s original ending involved a flood, but he decided to change it to a cyclone and storm sequence to avoid reminding audiences of a recent tragedy.

The final storm scenes were some of the most expensive ever filmed for a silent movie. Huge sets were built and then destroyed by giant wind machines, water pumps, and carefully planned special effects. Keaton insisted on doing most of the dangerous stunts himself, including the famous falling house facade scene. The film would also become his last truly independent production before he joined MGM. It was his final chapter of the creative freedom that made Buster Keaton one of the greats of film.

Complete Movie

Sonny Rollins – St. Thomas

Sonny Rollins passed away not long ago, and I hate to admit it, but I only knew him for playing sax on Waiting On A Friend by the Stones. Christian always runs a jazz song on his Sunday Six posts, and I find myself getting excited to hear another jazz song to start my Sunday. This post took me a while to write. I went out of my comfort zone with this one, but it was worth it, and I would like to do more in the future.

Sonny Rollins spent years learning from some of the giants of the era. He was born in New York City in 1930; Rollins came of age during the rise of bebop. By the early 1950s, he had already recorded with legends such as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. Rollins quickly developed a style of his own. His playing was powerful and melodic. He became known for taking simple melodies and turning them into something completely new through improvisation.

This one was recorded on June 22, 1956, during the sessions for the album Saxophone Colossus. Rollins was backed by pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Max Roach. The tune was based on a Caribbean folk melody that Rollins had heard from his mother’s family. His parents were from the Virgin Islands, and the song reflected those roots. The calypso rhythm immediately set it apart from many jazz recordings of the period.

What I’m hearing is Rollins using a melody as a launching point for a series of inventive solos. Max Roach drives the recording while Flanagan and Watkins provide a steady foundation. I’ve noticed in these recordings that the musicians leave plenty of space for one another, which gives tracks a loose and natural feel. It is one of those recordings that sounds new no matter how many times you hear it because it’s unpredictable in the best way.

This song introduced many listeners to Rollins and became his signature tune. More than seventy years later, it is still played by jazz musicians around the world. Like so many great recordings, it takes something simple and familiar and turns it into something you remember. I understand why Sonny Rollins is regarded as one of the true giants of jazz.