1. Once I hopped out of bed and fed Copper and Luna and worked the word puzzles I do every morning, I strolled down Cameron Avenue and surrendered my dental health to Kathy M. I opened my mouth, she poked around, checked my gums, cleaned my teeth, and removed my last four months of plaque build up. Turns out my dental health is solid. Kathy turned me loose and I was happy. My teeth felt smooth and clean and my daily dental care routine works.
2. I missed two Blissful Thursdays in a row on April 21 and 28. I was with Ed and Mike at the Wildhorse Resort on the 21st and on the 28th, I was busy with Debbie. I didn't listen to either Hard Rain and Slow Trains or Deadish.
Well, I have now listened to those six hours of premier radio programming and my soul is better for it.
Dan focused his entire 4-28 show on "Blowin' in the Wind" -- this April marks the 60th anniversary of when Dylan wrote the song. Dan played Dylan performing different versions of the song and renditions of other musicians covering "Blowin' in the Wind" (Neil Young, in particular, arrested my attention). In addition, Dan played Sweet Honey and the Rock performing the slave song, "No More Auction Block" (1867). Dylan refashioned the melody of "No More Auction Block" into the melody of "Blowin' in the Wind". Because I listened to the podcast version of this show, it ran for an hour and twenty-four minutes. I don't know what Dan edited from this version to make it fit the one hour format of his KEPW-FM show. I do know that I loved listening to this longer version, that the amount of content in this show was thrilling, and that I will listen to it again and again to comprehend it all better.
On 4-21, Dan continued his month to month exploration of what Bob Dylan was up to in 1962. The 4-21-2022 show focused on April of 1962. What most stuck with me was how Dan helped listeners understand and experience more deeply Dylan's indebtedness to the old blues musicians who preceded him. In particular, I loved hearing Bob Dylan sing one of my favorite blues tunes "Deep Elem Blues" at Gerde's Folk City on April 16, 1962.
So, that bliss zone I usually enter on Thursdays was delayed. The bliss didn't stop with a double dose of Dylan.
I sank even deeper into the warm waters of bliss as I listened to the episodes of Deadish I missed over the last two weeks.
I'm not going to try to recount everything Jeff played over these four hours devoted to the Grateful Dead and to other bands in the Grateful Dead universe like Phil and Friends, Little Feat with Steve Kimock, or Bob Weir and the Wolf Bros.
I will sum up my experience this way: it was four hours of blissful variety. It was a blast hearing the bands that emerged straight out the Grateful Dead keeping the music on the songs alive. Moreover, I loved the Grateful Dead music Jeff played. Two beauties really stuck out: "Stella Blue" and "Terrapin Station". But, what am I saying? Those "Crazy Fingers" and "Playin' in the Band" were also awesome.
But what did I enjoy the most? Well, Jeff is not hemmed in by the money making demands of commercial radio and he can give us listeners a free form radio show without fear of some of his stratospheric decisions costing the station advertising dollars. There is no advertising!
So in playing a huge chunk of the April 28, 1985 show performed at the Frost Amphitheater at Stanford University, he included the second set's complete "Space" and "Drums". It's so rare on a radio show to hear these improvisational explorations and I really loved it -- not only the sounds, but the way the Grateful Dead move into and out of "Playin' in the Band" while performing "Space" and "Drums".
3. Bill Davie's struggles with physical maladies have, for who knows how long, left him unable to play his guitar. The simplest way to put it is that his hands and fingers will not do what he wants them to.
Consequently, it's been a few months since he gave a Tree House Concert. You might remember that he used to perform them weekly.
That's the hard and bad news.
The good news is that Bill is back on Facebook Live on Tuesday evenings.
He is presenting a 30-45 minute version of Poetry Break, a feature of his Tree House Concerts.
I tuned into Poetry Break for the first time this evening.
More bliss. I'm telling you: MORE BLISS.
Bill has decided to read a mixture of his writing, the writing of established poetry pros, poems requested by those who watch his show, and poems written by Poetry Break followers.
Tonight, he read some of his own poems/journal entries and focused largely on the challenges of aging and trying to accept the limitations imposed on him by his maladies.
He also read requested poems, including Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" and Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends". He also read a poem by Whitworth alum, Mary Pecka. Bill only read one poem by a "pro". He opened the program by reading "An American Poem" by Eileen Myles. And there was more.
Bill's approach is ingenious. In a short period of time he opens up his own inner world to us, invites listeners to be a part of his program, thus creating connections between us, and gives equal attention to a well-established contemporary poet like Eileen Myles and a poet writing in an antiquated style like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Tonight Bill demonstrated that a poet like Longfellow, a poet we probably all encountered as kids, a poet who might be regarded as out of fashion by many, possesses a power that brought Bill, and I'm sure many of his listeners, to tears.
Here's a limerick by Stu:
They’re ready to help on the spot.
To help folks in need out a lot.
The life that they chose,
Includes water and hose.
And be brave when conditions are hot!
International Firefighters Day.
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