From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V2 #347 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Wednesday, November 29 2000 Volume 02 : Number 347 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] Moon River ["Isabel Frey" ] [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V2 #345 [Loracevoll@aol.com] [RS] Covers [Loracevoll@aol.com] Re: [RS] Covers [Rongrittz@aol.com] [RS] Frey, unlike an Eagle ["Gene Frey" ] [RS] If You See Me Getting Smaller I'm Leaving [Lee Wessman ] Re: [RS] A 'Hip' replacement? [Jeff Gilson ] Re: [RS] Frey, unlike an Eagle [Loracevoll@aol.com] Re: [RS] A 'Hip' replacement? [Vanessa Wills ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 10:07:55 -0500 From: "Isabel Frey" Subject: [RS] Moon River I could see Richard singing Moon River...but only if the boat sinks. Isabel _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 12:15:12 EST From: Loracevoll@aol.com Subject: [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V2 #345 In a message dated 11/28/2000 6:50:45 PM Pacific Standard Time, GLEN SAYS: > Carol and Ron thrusted and parried: > > >>I hope we're all in agreement that Richard Harris rendered the definitive > >>version of "MacArthur Park".... << > > >>Well, he's no Donna Summer. << > > Yes, but have you ever heard his dramatic rendering of 'Love to Love You > Baby? Oh, now that's just scary. Thanks Glen, that will keep me up all night.... xo....Carol ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 12:19:11 EST From: Loracevoll@aol.com Subject: [RS] Covers In a message dated 11/28/2000 6:50:45 PM Pacific Standard Time, owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org writes: > > I'll take the original writer's blood and guts over preachy covers anytime. Now, now. Down boy!! I think Joe Cocker and James Taylor -- to name just two -- can really kick ass with a cover. Even Randy Newman says he likes Cocker's cover of "You Can Leave Your Hat On" better than his original cut. ...Carol ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 13:30:35 EST From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] Covers >> I think Joe Cocker and James Taylor -- to name just two -- can really kick ass with a cover. Even Randy Newman says he likes Cocker's cover of "You Can Leave Your Hat On" better than his original cut. << Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with covers per se. However, I prefer it when an artist takes a song and infuses it with so much of his/her own personality that it sounds as if he/she could have written it him/herself. Richard's take on "Cold Missouri Waters" is a perfect example. If we didn't know that James Keelaghan had written the song, we wouldn't have been far off base in assuming that Richard has written it . . . that exact thing happened to me with "Shades of Black, Shades of Blue." Situations like that are rare, though. RG ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 14:46:59 -0500 From: "Gene Frey" Subject: [RS] Frey, unlike an Eagle Carol exclaimed: <<< Oh, now that's just scary. Thanks Glen, that will keep me up all night.... >> No, I'm not Glenn Frey (although I get that a lot, mostly from people who have never actually seen me. No resemblence whatsoever.) The only thing I have in common with Glenn Frey is an intense dislike for Don Henley. But, then again, so do a few million other music lovers..... Gene F. (who is breaking out the bottle of Ripple hidden under the porch to celebrate Isabel FINALLY de-lurking. She's been in the shadows longer than Lamont Cranston.) _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 12:00:51 -0800 From: Lee Wessman Subject: [RS] If You See Me Getting Smaller I'm Leaving Howie, you are the man of the hour. - -lee ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 15:49:57 -0500 From: Vanessa Wills Subject: [RS] what lurks in the hearts of men? Gene Frey wrote: > Gene F. (who is breaking out the bottle of Ripple hidden under the porch to > celebrate Isabel FINALLY de-lurking. She's been in the shadows longer than > Lamont Cranston.) Whoo-hoo! Yes, references to "The Shadow"! So. . . my question to all of you is--who will be seeing Peter Mulvey this Friday night in NYC? I'm planning to be there! I could see Richard covering "Fiddler's Green" off of the early Tragically Hip album, "Road Apples." It's sort of a cool Irish-influenced folky song. I've heard other versions of the "Fiddler's Green" story but the Hip's is my favorite. :-) Peace, Love, and Mischief, Vanessa ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 16:13:45 -0500 From: "Gene Frey" Subject: [RS] A 'Hip' replacement? Hey you guys, Vanessa Hip-checked: << I could see Richard covering "Fiddler's Green" off of the early Tragically Hip album, "Road Apples." >> Tell me more, tell me more. I only know the Hip from the few tracks I see on Much Music (Bobcaygeon, My Music at Work) but they sound very interesting. Where should one start if they want to get into the Hip? Gene F. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 16:27:33 -0500 From: Jeff Gilson Subject: Re: [RS] A 'Hip' replacement? Gene Frey wrote: >Tell me more, tell me more. Great, now I have this mental image of Glenn Frey in a greaser outfit. Or a poodle skirt. 'later, jeff. - -- All those things you taught me to fear I've got them in my garden now And you're not welcome here --Poe - -- (an index of free radical activity) http://www.onefreeradical.com/Journal/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 16:25:38 EST From: Loracevoll@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] Frey, unlike an Eagle In a message dated 11/29/2000 12:06:54 PM Pacific Standard Time, gf212121@hotmail.com writes: > gf212121@hotmail.com (Gene Frey) > Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org > Reply-to: shindell-list@smoe.org > To: shindell-list@smoe.org > > Carol exclaimed: > > <<< Oh, now that's just scary. > > Thanks Glen, that will keep me up all night.... >> > > No, I'm not Glenn Frey (although I get that a lot, mostly from people who > have never actually seen me. No resemblence whatsoever.) The only thing I > have in common with Glenn Frey is an intense dislike for Don Henley. But, > then again, so do a few million other music lovers..... Sorry, GENE. That's what I get for not reading close.... Why, this is more embarassing than living in a state that can't count votes.... ....Floridian Carol ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 17:52:05 -0500 From: Vanessa Wills Subject: Re: [RS] A 'Hip' replacement? Alright, guys. I have been asked to explain the glory of the Hip. Unfortunately, their magnificence is of such scope and depth that it can not really be defined or described, but only suggested, alluded to, and hinted at. The experience must be had, not vicariously, but in real flesh-and-blood proximity to the display of magic and energy that is a live Hip show. But I will try to render their glory into words. Beware, this post is long on--well, length--and short on Richard-content. Gene Frey wrote: > I only know the Hip from the few tracks I see on > Much Music (Bobcaygeon, My Music at Work) but they sound very interesting. They are, they are! They have a large and obsessive fan-base, largely due to the incredible genius and inimitable weirdness of their frontman, Gord Downie (who also writes most all of the lyrics). Their music is highly intellectualized (in a good way) rock and roll, and Gord tells stories that range from the chilling and surreal ("Nautical Disaster," on _Day for Night_), to the vignette that's fuzzy around the edges and strangely compelling ("Escape is at Hand for the Travelling Man," on _Phantom Power_), to the downright bizarre ("butts wigglin," on _trouble at the henhouse_). "ahead by a century," also on the _henhouse_ album, is one of the prettiest, most intricate, most strange love songs you'll ever hear (supposedly it's based on the movie "My Girl.") The song is full of double entendre and it's about owning your life and loving someone and making it together. In concerts, it's the song that's bound to have the most people wailing along, a little misty-eyed, some in tears, everyone shaking hir fists in the air, anger and hope and power in their eyes. Yeah, that's the magic of the Hip. They also have some songs about social ills--"Wheat Kings," on _Fully Completely_ is about a man who was wrongly convicted for murder in Canada. "Bobcaygeon," which you mentioned, Gene, is about racism and an incident of conflict that occurred in Toronto. The song is interesting because the way it's worded and the way it's sung push you to empathize with the racist Nazis--you're singing along and then all of a sudden, you're like--Whoa. Wait a second. The video for that is really cool, too. And then, there are the songs that obviously have some deep and important meaning--but nobody's really sure what that meaning is ("The Rules," _Phantom Power_). The Hip make music that you can get lost in--they are one of the tightest bands out there making rock music. I mean, on one level, it's just really good, straight-forward, rock and roll. On another level, it's something else completely. The Hip's studio albums are great, but you haven't experienced them until you've seen a show. Gord is absolutely whacked--he shakes and trembles and screams and absolutely puts everything he has into the performance. (And he does things with a banana that you really have to see to believe). His voice is beyond cool--I don't even want to try to compare it to anyone else's. On the one hand, it's throbbing and aggressive and utterly, utterly, *human*. On the other hand, it's like out of the ether, it's fragile and tender and completely alien. He's not just a singer, he's an actor in his songs, and a darn good one. He turns into the characters in his songs. The other key thing about Hip shows is that Gord does these rants that can go on for as long as fifteen, twenty minutes. Sometimes, he's just making up words about something that happened that day. They'll be either long, intricate stories, or he'll be singing. I don't know how to explain it--it's this weird stream of consciousness thing that he does, and the audience is there, hanging on to every word as though it were being handed down from a deity. (In fact, fans will sometimes chant "Gord is Lord" at shows). Other times, you can see a song being given birth to, slowly bubbling up from Gordie's consciousness. A song that isn't totally finished yet will appear in the middle of some other song, and if you go to a lot of shows, then slowly, slowly, you can see the baby song growing and growing until eventually it is it's own thing. Being a Hip fan is often like, a whole mystical experience. They're just great. They are also really nice guys. They are absolutely huge in Canada--about as big as Dave Matthews is here (but please don't think that they are anything like Dave Matthews)--but still very willing to talk to fans, and totally friendly. I met the band once after a show in Philly a couple years ago, and I got stuff autographed by all of them, and they asked me where I was from, and how I liked the show and didn't act like I was bothering them, although they are big stars (albeit not in the U.S.). One of my best memories is of Bobby Baker walking away to get in the tour bus and leave, and then turning back, smiling, waving, and shouting "Bye, Vanessa!" (Whoo-hoo!!! I thought I was going to die). The Hip have a very strong connection with their fans. I think on this list we were talking about Dar's connection to the teenaged girls who want her. On the Hip-list I used to be on, discussion often came back to Gord Downie's strangely sexualized appeal to the thousands of staunchly heterosexual men who love him. I think it has more to do with a kind of intellectual, mystical love affair than a physical longing, but it's intensely weird. Of course, lots of women love him, too, but the Hip are definitely more of a guy's band. (That said, they are definitely my favorite band making music today). For a time, I was totally obsessed with the Hip, and as evidenced by this, what has to be the longest post I've written in a while, my love for them definitely has not waned. They are great. > Where should one start if they want to get into the Hip? Well, they can start by getting me to send them a really awesome mp3, which is a live recording of the Hip doing one of their classics, "New Orleans is Sinking." In the middle of the song, out pops one of those rants I was talking about, and this rant is one that Gord has done several times in concert, and it's called "Killer Whale Tank." It's darn funny--and very strange. So Gene, do you have ICQ or Instant Messenger? I'll send it to you, but it's too big for my Netscape to e-mail (about 8 megs). Then, they should buy my favorite Hip album, _trouble at the henhouse_. In fact, everyone should have this album. It is absolutely the coolest, weirdest, smartest, funniest, scariest, eeriest, most challenging and most utterly fabulous rock album put out in a long, long time. OK, I think I've said enough, now. :-) Peace, Love, and Mischief, Vanessa, who now leaves you with some Tragically Hip quotes. ~They can lay their heads on their futon-beds, so many miles from home you teach your children some fashion sense and they fashion some of their own for when the policy-weary commune on the untamed land through white sheers whispers in their ears, you're damned and don't wake daddy~ ::From "don't wake daddy," _trouble at the henhouse_ ~Roses are worth more dried than alive such a you thing to say O how I adore you when you reinvent a rosy cliche~ ::From "Impossibilium," _Day for Night_ ~Clearly entranced, you're leaning back now Defanged destroyer limps into the bay Down at the beach it's attracting quite a crowd As kids wade through the blood out to it to play~ ::From "Scared," _Day for Night_ ~Titillations been replaced by Interstate brickface and Coffee-Mate and by a list of phone calls you'd like to make where you could sit on the edge of your bed and you could stare into your own shoes and in the pools of light there go wherever you choose~ ::From "Vapour Trails," _Phantom Power_ ~When everything seems either funny or lousy, funny or lousy, that's where it usually ends.~ ::From "Emergency," _Day for Night_ And now, to bring some Richard-content to this whole mess, the words to "Fiddler's Green," which I think would make a great Richard-cover. "Fiddler's Green," from _Road Apples_ September Seventeen For a girl I know, it's Mother's Day Her son has gone alee And that's where he will stay Wind on the weathervane Tearing blue eyes sailor-mean As Falstaff sings a sorrowful refrain For a boy in Fiddler's Green His tiny knotted heart Well I guess it never worked too good The timber tore apart And the water gorged the wood You can hear her whispered prayer For men at masts that always lean That the same wind that moves her hair Moves her boy through Fiddler's Green He doesn't know a soul And there's nowhere that he's really been But he won't travel long alone No, not in Fiddler's Green Balloons all filled with rain As children's eyes turn sleepy-mean And Falstaff sings a sorrowful refrain For a boy in Fiddler's Green (c)1991, The Tragically Hip Now, if that is not a Richard Shindell song. . . ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V2 #347 ***********************************