One of the more interesting members of my Mom's side of the family left us recently, Reverend Linn Creighton of New Jersey. Linn was Mom's first cousin, on her mother's side, as he was the son of her Mother's sister Clara Linn Creighton (the wittiest Linn there was, in my memory!).
Linn was born in 1917 in Wuchang, China, where Clara and her husband Roy were working at the time. Roy was an architect but also a missionary, and was interned by the Japanese for a couple of years during WW2. Young Linn eventually became a minister, and also married a lady minister named Lois. They inspired my brother Dan and I to have another "husband and wife minister team" at Mom's Memorial Service in June 2007. We wanted L & L, but obviously they couldn't do it.
For 50 years, Linn and Lois spent part of each summer at the picturesque Rockywold/Deephaven camp on Squam Lake here in New Hampshire. They couldn't make it up the past couple of years due to Linn's final illness (Alzheimer's) but Lois will be here later this month by herself. Linn had a sister who died when she was only a year old, and is survived by another sister, Phyllis, and a brother, Roger, who flew P-38s in the Aleutian Islands in World War 2.
Click on the post title for a look at the Creighton Collection at the Yale University Library. Fascinating stuff!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
R.I.P. Linn Creighton
Top 5 Knob-Twiddlers
"At their best - or, if you prefer, their pushiest — producers often are de facto composers."
Hippiefest
Here’s the complete Hippiefest setlist from Friday night:
Joey Molland’s Badfinger:
Baby Blue
Come and Get It
Day After Day
No Matter What
Flo and Eddie and The Turtles
You Baby
It Ain’t Me Babe
Elenore
She’d Rather Be With Me
Happy Together
Jack Bruce
As You Said (Jack solo on guitar)
Sunshine of Your Love
Sittin’ On Top of The World
I Feel Free
We’re Going Wrong
Politician
White Room
Eric Burdon and The Animals (with original Animal Hilton Valentine on guitar)
When I Was Young
Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Sky Pilot (wow)
It’s My Life
House of the Rising Sun
Paint it Black
Bringing Back "Old" Hawaii?
"It is being reported that travelers are cutting back on spending. Well, we have shot ourselves in the foot trying to make Honolulu and Waikiki another expensive, generic resort town, bulldozing all the budget boutique hotels, chasing away the character-laden, Hawaiian-style, inexpensive restaurants and bars, and welcoming the same dagblasted eateries you can find in any city across America. What do tourists want? Hawaii, in a word."
Sunday Music DIgest
America's youngest jazz band:
http://www.theweeklychallenger.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=90290&sID=37
Capturing Hurricane Katrina in dance?
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880801065
Speaking of N'Orelans, a new foundation will bring money to local musicians:
http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080803/NEWS01/808030313/1002
A blues fest in upstate New York
http://www.wktv.com/news/local/26210134.html
Newport Folk Festival preview-
http://www.eastbayri.com/detail/76568.html
Brooklyn hosts an African guitar festival:
http://www.villagevoice.com/events/view/522713
And a guitar injures wrestler Honky Tonk Man in Nova Scotia!
http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-237025-Guitar-injury-prevents-Honky-Tonk-Man-from-wrestling-in-Berwick.html
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Sea Life Park Cuts Workers
A Windward Oahu landmark, Sea Life Park has seen its tourist visits decline...
"Dead Man" Turns Up Alive 32 Years Later
This story has a personal twist-on our 1976 "Kerouac" cross-sountry drive, Gumby and Robinson and I were to camp in this very canyon when we got to Colorado. Due to unforseen circumstances, we left a day later than planned. That day late probably saved our lives.
"FORT COLLINS, Colo. - A man believed to have died in the Big Thompson flood has been found living in Oklahoma.
Darrell Johnson, 63, didn't know he had been counted among the 144 people who died in the flash flood that swept down Big Thompson Canyon on July 31, 1976 until he was called by canyon resident Barb Anderson last year."
Lowell Crafts 2008
Another one of the regional craftsmen on display at this year's Lowell Folk Festival was Bob Fuller, who has been making these nice ship's wheels for decades. Click on the post title for more about Bob's work.
Airbus A380 Lands in New York
"Airbus's A380 superjumbo touched down at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday, marking the first commercial arrival of the giant, double-decker passenger plane on U.S. soil."
A Visit to Monument Valley
Straddling the Utah-Arizona border, Monument Valley is best known as the site of many John Wayne movies but it's also a geological wonderland.
Saturday Music Digest
Sex Pistol John Lydon poops on Amy Winehouse
http://www.nme.com/news/sex-pistols/38593
Australia's jazz legend, Mr. B.:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/mr-b-australias-jazz-legend/2008/07/31/1217097431838.html
Album review: "Elvis in Concert"
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/08/01/233812.php
Air Ringo!
http://www.theoutlookonline.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=121764036866301800
Opera season in Hawaii...
http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/02/features/wood.html
Patti Boyd writes a tell-all book about Harri and Clapper:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/02/bopb102.xml
And a Cirque de Soleil sighting.
http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2008/8/1/cirque_du_soleil_Hawaii_October
Eddie, Are You Kidding?
Hippiefest 2008 report:
1. Jack Bruce did a legitimate "stupid music" tune (in other words, a song that Bob Wills covered), the classic old blues song "Sitting On Top of the World". Of course, he did it Willie Dixon style.
2. Great but too short-the shortest set lasted less than 20 minutes. The longest set lasted 45 minutes. Even then, the concert started on time and would have gone right up to to the 11 PM curfew if each act had only done two songs more apiece. The extra time was built-in to allow for stage sound equipment changes.
3. Ideal weather. It was actually cool, unusual for a "hot August night".
4. The Meadowbrook sound mix was impeccable, which was a good sign. They have a state of the art mixing and speaker system, which did the trick. There had been reports from earlier shows in the Hippiefest tour (some as recently as last week!) that some of the shows' sound mixes were terrible.
5. As was the case last year, there was an official "Hippiefest" house band that backed up a few of the groups. MVP last year and this year-leader and ace guitarist Godfrey Townsend, who faithfully re-created George's slide guitar on Badfinger's "Day After Day" and also dueled ably with Jack Bruce on the old Cream stuff.
http://www.godfreytownsendmusic.com/
6. New non-Hippiefest band member MVP-from Animals 2008, redhead bass player Paula O'Rourke! She nailed the intro to "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" to the wall.
7. Of course the premiere bass player in the house this night was Jack Bruce. His set was a religious experience.
8. Genial hosts Flo and Eddie were as always highly entertaining. They also did a 5 song set of their own, but sadly left out last year's Zappa tribute.
9. As I noted earlier, original Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine is along for the ride this time. When he started the guitar riff for "House of the Rising Sun", the other band members bowed down at his feet. Including Eric.
Friday, August 1, 2008
"New" Randall Hall Update
As of August 1st things are moving right along! Each of those windows will have the solid granite windowsills from the old Randall Hall, by the way. Nice touch.
As usual, a shameless plug-click on this post title to see my "old" Randall Hall blog.
Satchmo Summerfrest
Kicking off today in New Orleans, an outdoor music and learning festival paying tribute to "Pops". Lots going on!
Tull Himself!
Some friends and I will be at tonight's Meadowbrook show featuring Eric Burdon and the New Animals, Jack Bruce, Flo and Eddie and Joey Molland's "Badfinger", but here's a look at the show at the same venue Sunday night, a twin bill of Peter Frampton and Ian Anderson's little band...
Speaking of Eric Burdon, his band this time out features original Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine! Should be a great night out...
RIP Varoa Tiki
Another island musician leaves us:
"Varoa Tiki, who performed with many Hawaiian music legends, including Sterling Mossman at the old Barefoot Bar of Queen's Surf, died June 24 at her home. She was 73."
8/1 Music Digest
Vancouver's King of the Ukulele:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/entertainment/26146274.html
Trombones in New Orleans
http://www.telluridenews.com/entertainment/x1768858521/Trombones-beignets-hurricanes-Pine-Street-party
A Cowsill sighting!
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880731030
Rare Beatles tape to be auctioned:
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/rare-tape-of-the-beatles-to-be-auctioned-167559
Rare albums from Motown, Stax and Decca are now showing up on iTunes...
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/07/31/rare-motown-stax-decca-albums-hit-the-web-at-new-lost-tunes-store/
And a new documentary on Johnny Cash starts airing next week on PBS:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hYGjCP13VNpQeVnrwIy_mH9AVI0QD9292L2G0
