Month: June 2019

On June 28^th at 3:15 p.m., our Extended School Year (summer school) ends and a month and a half of vacation will begin.  It is a welcome break!  Teaching special education students who have behavior and learning issues is very rewarding but it’s also a daily challenge.  I’ve often said the kind of work our teachers, para-professionals and crisis staffers do is not for sissies.

I recently read a great phrase that fits all pre-K through grade 12 educators- “They’re not on summer vacation, they’re in recovery!”

The first benefit of being off is I’m no longer on a clock. No looking at my watch and thinking “Oh, this lesson has to wrap up at so and so time so we can start a new chapter in another class, and then we have to get the kids to P.E.”  I have no clock to answer to and that is a nice thing to say.

Another benefit is for the next month and a half I have no dress code. I’ll be living as if I were Jimmy Buffet. Barring some unforeseen formal event such as a wake or a special dinner, I will not be wearing long pants.  All that’s in my dresser drawers are gym shorts, board shorts and swim trunks.  No dress shirts allowed, an occasional polo shirt yes, but mostly just T-shirts. I won’t wear socks and my footwear will be a mix of gym shoes, Adidas slides and Reef flip flops. Wait, me, Mr. Bare Foot Phobia in flip flops? Truth being told, despite having my toes and ankles banged up from years of playing hockey, they’re actually in decent shape. And I keep my nails closely trimmed so as to not gross myself or anyone else out. 

As my regular Facebook and blog readers know, I’ll be spending the bulk of my days at East End Pool during the Adult Swim on Sundays through Fridays and catching up with my fellow pool ‘regulars.’ Also, if I get to the water early on Saturdays, there’s  time to enjoy it before the crowd of youngsters arrive there. The Elmhurst Park District has slated several night swims this season and I’ll take part in them too.  Taking laps and floating around under the stars is great fun that brings me back to my teen years.  Naturally, by the end of summer I expect to be tan enough to make George Hamilton look pale as Beetlejuice.

Unless you’re a 12 year old kid or are into mindless popcorn flicks, this summer’s movie schedule looks a bit lean.  Still I plan to see the Beatles never existed fantasy “Yesterday,” the live action “Lion King”, the scatological farce “Good Boys” and in late July I really look forward to Quentin Tarantino’s latest effort “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

Back at my house there are a couple of small repair jobs I need to take care of including window washing and the waterproofing of my back stairs.  I’m also getting my driveway sealed for the first time in several years, it needs it!

 I’ll be faithfully watching both Cubs and White Sox games and geeking out with some home scorecard tracking too.  Hey, I’m a sports nerd, get over it.

One creative endeavor I have is to develop a fictional trilogy of short stories.   All three tales have their basic structure completed and I know where the plots are going, I just need to fill them in with details and color.

Also, I’ve pulled my acoustic guitar out of mothballs and hope to add to my mastery of two chords I sort of remember from about five years ago.  It’ll take a couple weeks for my left hand’s fingertips to callous up but I’m fine with that.

I’ll also be meeting up with friends for lunches, a movie or a few cocktails and some laughs.  As far as a summer romance goes, to be honest I’m kind of set in the mode of a ‘Solitary Man’ as Neil Diamond once sang. Still, you never know what can happen.  I’ve got a nice six week break to take in and I’ll enjoy every single minute of it.  (minus my watch)  

NEXT BLOG WILL POST ON 7/2/19– I Ask Lots of Questions and Hope for Answers.

The popular and award winning country music group Little Big Town plays Ravinia this Friday June 28^th.  Due to a personal scheduling conflict I can’t make it to the show but still I wanted to note my appreciation for this foursome.

For almost fifteen years LBT, as they’re sometimes referred to, has been my favorite country group.  They’ve been together since the late 90’s but it was the nostalgic roots recall hit “Boondocks” that put them on the music charts and into the ears of country fans.  Their two girl-two guy harmonies bring out comparisons to Fleetwood Mac and they have embraced this by often covering Mac songs like “Go Your Own Way” and “The Chain” in concert.  LBT even did a country ‘Crossroads’ TV episode with former Fleetwood Mac star Lindsey Buckingham.

In the Spring of 2007 I took my mom to see one of her favorite singers Martina McBride at the Rosemont Theater.  I too like Martina’s music but the bonus for me was Little Big Town was the opening act.  This is when I began to really appreciate the versatility of the group as each member can handle lead vocal duties and hearing them singing as a foursome is impressive.  At that time my favorite songs of theirs were the Kimberly Shlapman sung “Wounded” and the haunting group sung “Bones” which was used on an episode of the HBO vampire series “True Blood.”  I love the line, “It’s a long and hard road to hoe when seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon.”      

Two years after “Boondocks” hit the charts, it appeared Little Big Town would be eclipsed by the rise of the vocal trio of Lady Antebellum.  This was due in part to Lady A’s smash ballad “Need You Now” which remains their biggest song to date.  And for awhile they did take a backseat to the love Lady Antebelluim got. Still, I maintained the foursome of Shlapman, Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet would overtake all other country acts with their vocal versatility and song power.  I was right.  The proof being in songs like “Tornado”, “Girl Crush”, “Day Drinking”, the fun in the sun romp of “Pontoon” and the sweet like wine song “Sober” which should’ve been a bigger chart hit than it was.

I can’t leave out the ‘escape from an abusive relationship’ ballad “Better Man.”  That one was written by Taylor Swift who gifted it to LBT. I find that beyond generous because it’s probably the best song Miss Swift has ever written.   The most profound line in this song being “The bravest thing I ever did was run.” Wow, nice work Taylor!

‘BETTER MAN’ IS PROBABLY THE BEST SONG TAYLOR SWIFT HAS EVER WRITTEN AND SHE HAPPILY GAVE IT AWAY TO LITTLE BIG TOWN.

Besides their own album recordings, Little Big Town enjoys covering songs by other artists on a You Tube series titled “Scattered, Smothered and Covered.”  The group puts country flavor to songs like Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger”, Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” and their finest cover being Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” which stomps out in hootenanny style.

LADY GAGA MUSIC  GOES COUNTRY WITH THIS HALLWAY RAVE UP OF “BORN THIS WAY” WHICH IS PART OF THEIR ‘SCATTERED, SMOTHERED AND COVERED” YOU TUBE SERIES.

Last year at an Elton John tribute concert the popular foursome had the task of performing “Rocket Man” and did so well with it that they’ve incorporated the song into their live shows.  The last time LBT played Chicago they opened with that E.J. classic. 

“ROCKET MAN” WAS SO WELL DONE BY LBT THAT IT’S BECOME A LIVE CONCERT STAPLE.

There’s more I could say about Little Big Town but they’re best represented by their body of musical work.   So enjoy clicking on to the links I posted and if you see them at Ravinia, you’re in for a great night of fun party songs and heartfelt ballads. 

FRIDAY 6-28-19’s BLOG: HOW I PLAN TO SPEND MY SUMMER VACATION.

Three blogs ago I wrote about June 3^rd being my favorite date in music. It’s because that’s when Billy Joe McCallister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge in Bobbie Gentry’s classic song “Ode to Billy Joe.”  In my opinion those four minutes of southern gothic music represent the best story song of all time and I never tire of it.

As I wrote before, there remains a mystery as to WHY Billy Joe McCallister took his own life.  Was it guilt over a homosexual relationship?  The pain over his girlfriend possibly aborting a baby which may or may not have been what he and her were seen throwing off that famed bridge? 

Nobody knows these answers and Mississippi born Bobbie Gentry has never given definitive replies to the questions this song inspires.  The most she’s said is that “Ode to Billie Joe” is about “unconscious cruelty and indifference.”    

Years ago, Carly Simon revealed the cad depicted in her classic hit “You’re So Vain” was either Mick Jagger or Warren Beatty.  As juicy as that detail may be, I think that spoils matters for us listeners.  It’s like a magician showing us the secrets of how one of his or her tricks were done.  Once the reveal is out it taints the tale.  I for one need an open space for reflection, interpretation and opinion. 

The good news is the mystery of “Ode to Billy Joe” will probably never be re-opened and ruined for those who crave definitive answers. This is because Bobbie Gentry has been an off the radar and off the grid for over 35 years.  Nobody really knows where she is or what she does.  If anyone DOES know, they’re not talking.    

This kind of disappearing act is pretty amazing considering that from 1967 through the 1970’s Bobbie Gentry was in the public eye and ear recording music of her own, collaborating with Glen Campbell on a duets album and putting on highly praised and financially lucrative live shows in Las Vegas. Besides the number 1 hit “Billy Joe” which crossed over from Country radio to Top 40 radio, she charted 11 singles and wrote and recorded the original version of “Fancy.”  That Gentry song about a girl who learned to ‘be nice to the gentlemen’ only made it to the top 30 but years later Reba Mc Entire covered it and made it a monster country hit.  This was another great story song and one that brought plenty more royalties to its songwriter.  

          

For a short time Gentry was married to Vegas Casino magnate Bill Harrah.  After a second failed marriage she met and tried wedlock with well known 70’s pop artist Jim Stafford who had his own TV series and several radio hits.  They had a son Tyler who was born a few months after their marriage dissolved just short of a year in 1980. When asked about his famous ex-wife Stafford is tight lipped and has only spoken flattering words to describe what a talent Bobbie was in all facets of music making and putting on a live show. 

One of Bobbie Gentry’s last public performances was on Christmas night 1978 as a guest on the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.  The next year she appeared on a salute to Mother’s Day and in 1982 was seen at a couple of music industry events before slinking off into anonymity. 

From there Bobbie Gentry was reportedly living a private life in Los Angeles while remaining a part owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team from 1968 through 1987.  With no apparent money woes she walked away from the glitz, glamour and public existence of a show-biz life at an age when many artists are still hitting their creative stride.

Over the years many writers and reporters have tried to locate this Greta Garbo-like star but have come up with little in the way of confirmed facts.  In 2016, the Washington Post ran an article claiming Ms. Gentry was living in a gated community in a suburb of Memphis.  However, there have also been reports of her living everywhere from the outskirts of Nashville to Georgia and South Carolina.  One reporter claims to have made a shot in the dark call to a southern home and believes he talked with the mysterious Miss Gentry for a few seconds before being hung up on.

Last fall there was a boxed set release of all previous Bobbie Gentry music titled “The Girl from Chickasaw County”.  Still, she did no interviews or work to promote these past works.   With an estimated personal net worth of 100 million dollars, it doesn’t sound like Miss Gentry needs anything from anyone. 

I see Bobbie Gentry as being music’s answer to Harper Lee, the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” which many consider to be the greatest work of American literature.  After the book’s mega-success (which continues to this day) and subsequent movie, Harper Lee went off the grid and lived a very private existence.  That was until late in life when she agreed to release a pre-Mockingbird  book titled “Go Set A Watchman” which turned out to be a reported first draft of her Pulitzer prize winning novel.

I don’t anticipate a musical “Go Set a Watchman” type release coming from the reclusive Bobbie Gentry.  In fact I see her quick fade out from show business as being refreshing and inspiring.  So many famous performers refuse to leave the spotlight until they’ve become pale images of what they were in their hey day.  The Who’s Roger Daltrey has talked about how you don’t retire from the music business, the music business retires you.  Staying at the party too long is an ungracious way to be remembered and this is why I admire how Bobbie Gentry left public life on her own terms.   Well done by that girl turned woman from Chickasaw County!     

 NEXT WEEK’S BLOG-  A Visit to Little Big Town’s “Boondocks.”

Father’s Day is this Sunday.  Like many of you I was blessed to have a great dad who I miss very much. He passed in August of 1993.  However, there might be a few pops out there who fall short of being a good parent.  With that, I bring you my checklist on what constitutes a dad who needs better judgement in being a role model and mentor for their kids.

You MIGHT be a lousy father if:

You and a pom pom girl from your kid’s high school are sexting each other.

Your 5 year old has real tattoos.

On ‘Take Your Kid To Work Day’ your little one has to act as a corner look-out.

You’ve ever been tased at a T-ball game.

At your daughter’s high school “Career Night” you complain there are no reps from the local strip club.

YOU MIGHT BE A LOUSY FATHER IF:

Both you and your teenager wear home monitoring ankle bracelets. 

When taking the kids to the local pool you wear a banana hammock.

You hold cock fights in your toddler’s play-house.

When playing Pee Wee football your son fails a steroid test.

YOU MIGHT BE A LOUSY FATHER IF:

You sleep with your son’s girlfriend before he does.

You sneak a six pack into the school Christmas pageant.

You pay for your son’s first ever lap dance.  And you’re REALLY a lousy father if the dancer is your daughter.

Your kid’s Science Fair project is a pot growing operation.

YOU MIGHT BE A LOUSY FATHER IF:

You’re the photographer of your daughter’s Playboy test shots.  And it’s worse if you used a hidden camera.

Your son complains the school library doesn’t subscribe to “High Times” magazine

The incentive for your kids to get good grades includes Jagermeister and a pony keg.

When enrolling your kid into pre-school you use the F-word more than twice.

You refer to your teen daughter’s slumber party as “New Talent Night.”

YOU MIGHT BE A LOUSY FAHTER IF:

Your kids learn about the birds and the bees from Jenna Jameson pornos.

The T-shirt you wear at the school Parent-Teacher night says “Free Mustache Rides.”

You’ve ever bribed a Little League umpire.

You need the dog’s urine to pass a drug screen.

The family mini-van has a bumper sticker that says, “No Fat Chicks.”

NEXT WEEK’S BLOG- Whatever happened to Bobbie Gentry?

On Monday June 10^{th 2019}, my friend Bob (Bobbo) Ciciora turned 58,.same age as me.  Bobbo has been my great pal since we were both twelve years old and shared classes at Bryan Junior High.  Bobbo grew up with four brothers and two sisters while I had no brothers, just my dear sister Marianne.  However due to our longtime friendship and seeing each other through many highs and some lows over the past 46 years, I consider the two of us to be brothers from other mothers.  I know he does as well.

A couple months ago when wife Tammi asked what he wanted for his birthday, Bob said he wished he could get Sammy Llanas and his band to play a paid performance at their home. 

FYI- For over twenty years Sammy was one half of the creative force behind the Wisconsin based band The BoDeans.  Of the two mainstays of that group, Sammy Llanas’ voice and songs were always our favorites.  I can’t count how many times we traveled to Summerfest in Milwaukee to see the BoDeans rock out as well as catching them playing shows in Chicago.  When Sammy split off from partner Kurt Neumann he formed his own band and now plays concerts filled with songs he wrote for the BoDeans and solo work he’s recorded over the years.    

Just one wish. Have Sammy Llanas play at the house.  Well last night Bobbo got his wish!  Tammi, with help from another close friend of ours, Marko Vasko, made the necessary arrangements for Sammy and his 3 back-up players to come in and do a concert. Tammi may have paid the performance fee but Marko was the masterful coordinator of all logistics and even took care of the band’s drink and food needs.

While Tammi and two neighbors wined and dined Bobbo at a nearby restaurant, friends and family gathered at the Ciciora’s back yard noshing on snacks and a couple of taps of Polyanna craft beer.  Sammy and his band battled bad traffic to arrive and set up their gear as we patiently waited for the birthday boy to show up so the concert could start.

What a great party it was and a tremendous surprise for my buddy! He was thrilled and shocked as he saw what fun was about to unfold in front of him. Tammi even had laminated badges made for all guests to mark the special night.

I’ve seen Sammy Llanas play live as a BoDean more times than I could count.  However, this was the first time for me to catch him as a solo act with his band and the Waukesha native did not disappoint.  He opened the set with “That’s All”, my favorite song off the BoDeans debut album “Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams.”  FULL DISCLOSURE, “That’s All” came out in 1986 and it accurately reflects the mood and feelings of my ‘first time’ with a woman which occurred a few years earlier.

Sammy and his three bandmates covered most of his best work as a BoDean.  From “Still the Night”. “617”, “Heart of a Miracle”. “Black, White & Blood Red”, “Hey Pretty Girl” “Naked” and “True Devotion” to a fun mash-up of “Misery” and “Sylvia”, a song about a nasty pussycat who was ‘Spending all my money, driving my new car, scratching all my records & playing my guitar.” 

They also slid in a good helping of Sammy Llanas’ solo work of which I’m not as familiar with but really enjoyed too.  Guitarist Sean Williamson was an ace on the steel guitar for several cuts which included a couple of country flavored shuffles and the guests responded with the appropriate applause and appreciation for the newer works.

There was more BoDeans era music to hear including the late in the set stomp of “Fadeaway” and the track “Closer to Free” which many remember as the theme song from the TV series “Party of Five.”  Sammy also tagged in “She’s a Runaway” and while that song is over thirty years old, its tale of a mistreated woman reflects well in today’s world of “Me Too” and related domestic abuse issues.

The ninety minute plus set was a great one and seeing Bobbo and Tammi rock out to every song was a huge kick for me.  I remember the time the three of us saw Sammy and the BoDeans play The Vic Theater in 1993 when Tammi was several months pregnant with what would be her second baby, Aimee.  Aimee is now a full grown college graduate and corporate airplane pilot.  It should be noted that Bob and Tammi’s first child Alex and his wife Sarah are about a month away from making them grandparents.  Shit, where did the time go?   

After the show, getting to meet and talk a bit with Sammy and his band was a fun way to wrap up the party. They were more than accommodating for photos and some laughs. As I drove home at the end of the night I thought of how great music like Sammy’s provided a wonderful soundtrack to our lives together and Monday night’s private performance amplified that.

Add to all of what went down in Bobbo’s backyard, this was the last party to be held at the Ciciora house as they are just days away from moving to Bend, Oregon.  Plenty of fun, laughs and a few tears have been shed over years at that locale and I’ll always look back on those times with fondness and nostalgia. Since Bob flies for American Airlines and he has much family back here, we’ll still see each other and of course stay close despite the miles between us. 

So until we see each other again Bobbo, safe travels and God Bless.  And Tammi, thanks for landing Sammy for that last blast and a night to remember!

ON A BLOG LATER THIS WEEK: You Might Be a Lousy Father if…

For those like me who are into trivial matters such as dates and events in music, this first week in June is a big one, always has been and always will be.  Let me explain.

Let’s start off with the old Neil Diamond song “Desiree.” It opens with the lyrics “It was the third of June on that summer’s day when I became a man at the hands of a girl almost twice my age.”  Yeah Neil’s tune tells us about a rookie who got some nookie that day. I love the line, “And it wasn’t so much her words as such, as the way they were sung.”  That Desiree was a love machine folks!  

And he goes on, “Then came the fourth of June on that sleepless night when I tossed and I turned while the thought of her burned up and down my mind.” 

When I was in my teens and beyond I was attracted to older women and “Desiree” had something to do with that.  Also you need to factor in the influence of films I saw like “The Graduate” and “Summer of 42.”   Neil’s song’s story was a one and done/hit it and quit it deal and there are plenty of other great one night stand songs that I’ll have to list out another day.

But we’re not done with the “Third of June.”  June third is my favorite day in music because of Bobbie Gentry’s classic “Ode to Billy Joe.” It is on that fateful day when we learn Billy Joe McCallister jumped to his death off the Tallahatchie Bridge.   I have former radio co-workers who appreciate this song like I do; so much so that on the night of June 2^nd I stay up until the clock strikes midnight and June third hits. Then I quickly post on their Facebook pages lyrics along with a photo of the infamous bridge in that song.      

With that opening line “It was the third of June another sleepy dusty Delta day” we learn what went down that day.  The song’s narrator goes on to share supper with her family and in between bites of food is told how Billy Joe McCallister took his own life.

“Ode to Billy Joe” was a monster radio hit on both the country and pop music charts and then inspired a movie by the same name. Still, unanswered questions remain.  Why did Billy Joe off himself this way?  Was it due to the shame of a homosexual relationship with a grown man?  Did Billy Joe impregnate the song’s narrator who then got an abortion?  And what was that young couple throwing off the bridge? Could it have been a keepsake from a gay affair?  Or maybe it was a dead fetus? 

Nobody knows for sure and the beautiful part of this mystery is Bobbie Gentry has never revealed definitive answers to these and other questions about that song.  The most Ms. Gentry has ever said about “Ode To Billy Joe” is that she wrote it to illustrate the issue of “Unconscious cruelty & indifference” to such tragedies.  During the song, Billy Joe’s death is talked about at dinner but that’s in between lines like “Pass the biscuits please” and how Brother Taylor would like to come over for dinner on Sunday.

I once read that this song is “Not heard but felt.”  True enough!

There is a lot more to cover about Bobbie Gentry herself and I will do just that in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime, click below and enjoy this southern tale of tragedy in the Mississippi Delta.

SONG LINK 

3 DAYS LATER-

June 6^th is another big day this week.  First off, it was on June 6^th 1940 when my radio mentor, former boss and longtime friend Larry Lujack was born.  Sadly,  Lar passed away in December of 2013 but he’s never forgotten by me and millions of radio fans who listened to him for years. If I ever finish my radio memoir “Raised on the Radio” I’ll share plenty more on Ole Uncle Lar and what he meant to me.

We’re not through with June 6th. Let’s see if these lyrics ring a bell for you.  “Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June in a Kenworth pullin’ logs, cab-over Pete with a reefer on and a Jimmy haulin’ hogs.”  Yes, we’re talking about the fun 1975 novelty pop/country hit song “Convoy” by C.W. McCall.  That song went part and parcel with the CB radio craze at the time and even inspired a bad action movie by the same name. Thanks to some rogue truckers who didn’t want to pay any more highway tolls, we learned that ‘Bears’ were state troopers and caught up with plenty of other CB jargon.

I remember hearing “Convoy” playing on WLS AM at least once an hour and as goofy as it sounds, we couldn’t get enough of the story of truckers nearing tollbooths who “Crashed the gate doing ninety eight. So let them truckers roll 10-4.” 

One last memory of “Convoy”– My old friend Willie C and I shared twisted humor and one night in the summer of ‘81 we put that humor to work at a college buddy’s party.  The house was packed butts to guts both inside & out and a stereo was blasting rock from The Who, Stones, Journey and REO Speedwagon.  That was until Willie and I perused this guy’s record collection, spotted the C.W. McCall album and played impromptu DJs.  Next thing the whole crowd of beer guzzling, quarters playing kids heard was that hokey four minute song about Pig Pen, Rubber Duck and the truckers who didn’t want to pay no tolls.  When that tune finished there was lots of moaning from the party guests and Willie and I slinked out of the party laughing our asses off.

NEXT WEEK’S BLOG-  You Might Be A Lousy Father If: