Richie Havens was one of the greatest folk singer I have ever heard. Listening to him over and over as a kid I learned the technique as a young guitar player how to play open tuning. Havens offered me that gift through his music. He also offered me a new way to interpreted songs. He would take cover songs and put a spin on them like no artist I could have ever imagined, and he offered that great gift to me as well. Richie Havens died yesterday at the age of 72 of a heart attack.

When I think about musicians who made the 60s, who forever would be a part of the 60s, Havens had to be one of them. I was a kid, too young to go to Woodstock, but oh, how I have memories of listening to him sing at Woodstock. Who was this man and how could he possibly sound this wonderful? I remember getting albums of Richie’s and listening to them repeatedly. The way he interpreted songs was magnificent. Songs like, Here Comes the Sun, or Just Like A Woman, these were breath taking.  Motherless Child and Freedom is what I will always remember him for.

I was gathering information last night about Havens and did not realize that he was the opening act for Woodstock, perhaps I was too young to remember and too young to remember that he played for three hours. I started seeing him as a kid more and more on TV. This Brooklyn native, whose father was a Native American, loved his sons’ voice and listened to him. Havens reported that his father had a knack for music. His family was very musical and so Havens began a Doo Wop group. At the age of 16, he started a gospel choir. I suspect he knew he had talent so he left NY and headed off to Greenwich Village.

Havens of course got into music and played wherever he could, mainly coffee shops as that was what folk musicians did in the 60s. He soon released some demos and eventually MGM picked him up. In 1967, he recorded his album Mixed Bag, which I thought was a perfect title for this album. On this album remains one of my favorite songs by him which is Dylan’s Just Like a Woman. That was when I noticed his open tuning strumming. I was unsure at first how he achieved to get such sound out of his guitar and making the guitar sound like it was saying grace. A friend of mine said he opened tuned. It was as if he used that guitar almost like a drum. He slammed it and strummed it, and I never recognized his chords. I learned through him how divine opening tuning could be.

He had a successful career and he released more than 25 albums, his last was in 2008. He kept busy by acting in the 70s, and in 2000, he started his own record label called Stormy Forest. Havens was an artist I listened to often. His music soothed the soul as far as I was concerned. It was deep and filled with emotions and feelings. I think that is one thing Havens did the best, he used his voice as utter expression and he used it well.

I will miss Richie Havens, but what I have is a collection of his music, a song in my heart, and the memories of trying to figure out how he got his guitar to sound so rich. Richie Havens was a folk genius who took the music to levels unimaginable for a folk singer. I can guarantee you that rock and roll heaven just got better!

The Pioneer Hotel before the fire. Picture from Wikimedia

I was sitting in my living room today having coffee when I saw the news that Louis Cuen Taylor the man blamed for the Tucson Pioneer Hotel was being released today. Many things went through my head including what it must have been like sitting in a jail for 43 years for a crime he more than likely did not commit. The other thing that was dancing through my mind was how the fire impacted me when I was just twelve years old, and it got me thinking…

I cannot remember how many times our family either drove by or walked by the Pioneer Hotel located at Stone Avenue and Pennington. I remember going inside of this grand hotel and recalling how luxurious it was and how incredibly big it seemed to a 12-year- old. It was one of the biggest buildings in Tucson at the time.

The Pioneer Hotel, which was an Arizona landmark, was eleven stories high. I recall my father, a carpenter, said that the city had every right to complain about the hotel since the fire department at the time could not reach the top floor. Albert Steinfeld built the hotel in 1929 and he made claim the hotel was fireproof and was safe.  He and his wife died that day in the fire.

What I remember so well was the date because December 19 is my parents wedding anniversary and no one is ever to forget their anniversary date! The year was 1970 and at the age of twelve, it was hard to understand how so many people could have died in a fire like that.

I recall the news saying that there were more than 750 people at the hotel that night. The great hotel was hosting a Christmas party for Hughes Aircraft employees and the hotel was packed when the deadly fire broke out.  I kept remembering the news talking about how people were jumping out of the window falling to their deaths. People were talking about how horrific it was to see people leap to their deaths.

For a kid, trying to imagine people jumping to their deaths was enough to create nightmares. I recall telling my parents about my nightmares and my mother would tell me not to watch the news. However, you did not have to watch the news. The talk of the fire was everywhere. It seemed like there was someone at school, or at church, or the grocery store that lost someone in the fire. It was impossible to not hear about the day Tucson lost the most people in one tragic event.

My dreams eventually went away, but the pain in my heart would stay there. Being rather empathic, even at twelve, I felt the scar that this would leave on Tucson and so many residents that lived here. The loss that day was profound.

Today, Louis Cuen Taylor who turns 59 this week and was a 16-year-old boy when fingers began to point at him, will walk away from this tragic event as well and walk into his freedom. Experts are saying that this fire might not have been arson. In fact, even the trial judge stated he would not have convicted Taylor.

For those who live here in Tucson and lived here when the fire broke out, December 19, 1970 will be a day we will never forget. It was the day the Pioneer Hotel burned down and killed 29 people. It was a day where one of Tucson’s tallest buildings no longer stood tall. It was a day where fire regulations began to change. It was a day that for some like me will forever remain as a cruel reminder that bad things happen to good people.

Do you recall the Pioneer Hotel fire?

The Dave Clark Five band did the song Glad All Over, which was a song, that not just birds like to dance to, but people too. I caught myself bopping my head with the bird and dancing with her. Then I heard the DJ say that Rick Huxley, who was a founding member of the Dave Clark Five died on Monday at the age of 72.

No wonder they have been playing Dave Clark Five music. What? You have not heard much about Dave Clark Five? They were a British band back in the day with The Beatles, in fact, their song Glad all over topped the charts in the UK and the song was so popular that it knocked the  Beatles song I Want to Hold Your Hand off the chart.

So who was the Dave Clark Five? They were part of the British invasion. Some people in the early days compared them to the Beatles. I personally could never do that, however, there were some comparisons mainly because of their songwriting skills and they wrote most of their own material, which by the way at first, the Beatles did not.

I do not want to compare Dave Clark Five to the Beatles, not by far, in fact the only comparison would be that they were all part of the British invasion.  During their time they had  great songs that people enjoyed such as “Glad All Over,” “Do You Love Me,” “Over and Over,” “Catch Us If You Can,” and “Bits and Pieces.”

They, like many of their counterparts in that time period even had a movie called Having a Wild Weekend. The band started in 1961 and broke up in 1970. The band never got the recognition I felt they should have had after all, Dave Clark Five sold 50 million records and had 30 hit singles worldwide.

The Dave Clark Five was formed quite accidentally. They were not planning on appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and several coast-to-coast tours. No, they formed when a young Tottenham football player named Dave Clark needed to find money to help fund his team’s traveling expenses so he found Chris Walls, Rick Huxley, Stan Saxon and Mike Ryan.

No, the Dave Clark Five band could not be compared to by the Beatles, but for a few brief moments, when they knocked the Beatles off the chart, I have no doubt they felt compared, if only for a few moments. Sadly, when members of these 60s band pass on, I do indeed feel my age, and always am thankful I lived in a time where music was celebrated and not just downloaded. Yes, Dave Clark Five belonged to the great generation of British music.

It used to be people did not have telephones, little long cell phones or computers. Getting urgent messages to people was difficult and could take a while. Then in 1837, inventors created the telegram which is a message sent over a distance using a device called a telegraph and hand delivered by a courier. In 1851, Western Union was born and built its first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861.

Important to get a brief history of the telegram because it changed the way we communicated. It also changed the way we sent very special greetings in 1933. That is because it was the first time a singing telegram was sent. In the past, when the courier came with that yellow piece of paper, it meant something might have gone wrong, like a death. George P. Oslin, who at the time was the Western Union public relations director, decided to send a singing telegram from a fan of a movie star. Interestingly enough, the person that delivered the first singing telegram as a Western Union operator named Lucille Lipps.

Many people thought it was great fun to send a message this way and birthday wishes, anniversaries and yes Valentine messages were sent via singing telegram. The bottom line, if you were the recipient of a singing telegram, you would smile, laugh, and have a memory for a lifetime. Well that was until 1974, when Western Union suspended the service.

Fear not young lovers of singing telegrams. Western Union has decided to bring back the singing telegram. No, it is not couriers or operators delivering the song. We seem to be so much more modern than that. Western Union launched a website where customers can record and send their own karaoke-style audio messages to family and friends via email.

I know it just isn’t the same. I choose not to even call that singing telegram and in fact, a service that anyone can do with their computer. However, there are services that still do live come to your door singing telegrams, just make sure you have the money to dole out.

Indeed, once upon a time ago, singing telegrams could make Valentine’s day more romantic, more special, but those days are gone. I suppose what that means is if we want something done, we will have to do it ourselves. So excuse me while I go put my red on, and go sing to my special valentine. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

Cheering concert crowd from wikimedia

I was trying to recall my first concert I ever went to as a kid.  Oh yeah it was in a parking lot at the Sears on Broadway in Tucson Arizona. There was a fashion show outside and the Everly Brothers were there. I have very vague memories, but it was a rather big deal and I recall the parking lot had an awful lot of people. First concerts are great memories and it got me thinking…

Concerts were a big deal growing up when I was a kid. My mother used to take us to the state fair and we would see top entertainers there. I do not recall who the first entertainer I saw in a large concert hall was, but I could have cared less. I seemed more intrigued with the crowds, the sounds, and the size of the place. I had never seen anything like it.

The giant coliseum in Phoenix Arizona was bigger than I could ever imagine. I could not imagine what the performers must have thought playing to a full house. I also wondered why Tucson did not have a big concert hall like that. It would not be long before my dream concert hall would be built.

In 1971 a 9,300 seated concert hall was built in Tucson Arizona. They called it The Tucson Community Center, or TCC for short. It was a big deal. In fact, it was a huge deal. I remember getting tickets for concerts as a teenager. The ticket seller would show you a map of where the stage was, and then all the seats that surrounded that stage.

As kids, we all had names for the seating. There was front stage, which was about the first 50 or 60 rows of seats. Then there was floor seats. There was side seat, side seats by the stage, at the middle or in the back, and then there was what we called the nose bleed section, which meant, you could not see who was playing and it also meant you were too broke to get the good seats.

Some of the people I saw at the TCC included, Chicago, America, Cats Stevens, Bread, Journey, Starships, Heart, Neil Young, The Carpenters, Boston, at this point this  should be giving my age away. I think I saw so many concerts before I was 18 at the TCC that I have lost track.

I suppose the point is, as kids, big arena concerts were great fun. The vibrations made my feet shake, the energy of the crowd made my head spin, and seeing some of my favorites made me feel like I was a kid in a dream. It was something to look forward to.

The last time I went to a big arena concert as well over 25 years ago when I saw Eric Clapton, which I must say was wonderful still, I am glad that many shows have turned into smaller venues. The big concert halls when I was growing up were great fun, as an adult, I have no desire to be in the big concert halls however , they sure did serve their purpose.

One more thing I would like to point out about these wonderful shows growing up. Tickets were not that expensive. They range from 6.50 to 15.00 bucks, which made it well worth seeing your favorite, and in some cases not so favorite musicians perform live. Anymore I like the outdoor shows. I do not feel trapped in a wall of people, the sky and desert make a great backdrop and the ticket prices seem to be a lot less.

Still, concerts are one of my most memorable experiences growing up. I am unsure what my teenage life would have been without these wonderful events that I enjoyed growing up with. So, what was your early experiences with concerts?

I will never know why people get in cars drunk and drive. Clearly the laws will never be strict enough, as far as I am concerned, first offense you should lose your right to drive period. No questions asked. Who knows maybe one day our laws may protect innocent people. This made me want to do some research and go down retro lane and look at the history of our laws around drinking and driving.

It all began in 1897 when a London taxi driver named George Smith was the first arrest for drunk-driving was made. This poor old chap slammed his cab into a building while he was intoxicated, who knows if he had people in that cab. He was the first recorded person to be arrested, plead guilty and pay a small fine. It was recognized that perhaps drinking and driving was not the smartest thing.

Meanwhile, back in the USA, in 1910, New York became the first state to have drunk-driving laws. Right behind New York was California and soon everyone else followed. Then in the 1930s committees were formed to try to make American roads a little safer, in the process  the National Safety Council set up a study to develop tests that could be used to determine intoxication and in 1938  blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was developed and in 1939, Indiana became the first state to enact a BAC law. The Blood Alcohol Content level to determine a drunk driver was set at a .15 or nearly twice today’s .08 national legal limit.

In 1953, Robert Borkenstein, a former police captain as well as a university professor helped develop the “Drunkometer” which then became the breathalyzer. With all this wonderful technology, you would think that people would have understood it was not safe to drive. It wasn’t until the late 70s that people began to understand the dangers of drinking and driving.

In 1980, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) was founded by Candy Lightner after her 13-year-old daughter was killed by a drunk driver. Lightner discovered that the driver had three previous DUI convictions. She was so angry and wanted to do something she not only formed MADD, she and her organization helped with tougher laws for those convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol as well as pushed to have the legal drinking age raised to 21.

Every since man could drink there have been drinking with transportation issues whether it was drinking and walking, drinking and driving a stage coach or a horse, or drinking and driving a car. What we have yet to learn from history is people drink and get behind a wheel people can die, in fact every 39 minutes someone dies because a drunk got in a car. It is interesting to watch the progression of laws and will be more interesting as laws, we hope, become stricter.

Wikimedia Commons

I was at my relatives house this Christmas Eve and my Uncle was getting ready to turn the TV off when the new announced that actor Jack Klugman had just died. We all sat there for a brief moment saying, “Really?” None of us really pictured him as being 90 years old, and I think for a brief moment, as I looked at my cousin with whom I had watch the Odd Couple with for years, made me realize that we are indeed getting older as the people we grew up with are passing on and it got me thinking…

When I was a teenager, TV comedies were great. They were great for many reasons. I thought they had solid storylines, unlike the sitcoms of today. The writers had a wonderful sense of humor and laughter came easy for shows like the Odd Couple.

I loved watching the Odd couple because it was believable. It was just downright funny, and what made it so funny were the two actors, Jack Klugman, who played Oscar Madison, the slob who was the roommate to Felix Unger, the guy with OCD and hypochondria who was played by Tony Randall. The funny part of this was not just the storyline, but how the two men were able to adlib with each other during the filming of the show.

I recall as a teen watching interviews with these two men talking about how well they could adlib with each other and stray from the script. These two were comedians at their finest and the show The Odd Couple, which aired from 1970-1975 was able to capture the essence of true comedy.

The other thing I liked about this show and shows of these times was they often had guest stars on them. Many TV sitcoms had great guest spots and on the Odd Couple people like Monty Hall, Richard Dawson, Hugh Hefner, James Millhollin, Bobby Riggs, Billie Jean King, Deacon Jones, Allen Ludden, and Betty White played a guest role on this show.

Klugman left the show and soon become Quincy, M.E. I never cared for the show too much because I always felt he did not fit in as a medical examiner, but if I could get past my own stereotyping, he did a good job as Quincy. That is because Klugman was a great character actor. He was so good that he had over 100 television credits on his resume which I recall several episode of The Twilight Zone,  and a 1964 episode of The Defenders which he won an Emmy Award for his performance. In fact, he won two Emmys for the show the Odd Couple. Klugman was also a wonderful actor in the movies such as Goodbye, Columbus, The Detective, Days of Wine and Roses and 12 Angry Men.

Jack Klugman dead at 90 will be a veteran actor that will be missed by us baby boomers. RIP Jack…

Christmas is the time of year where I get to see people at their worst. Being a therapist, it is my busiest time of the year. People tend to be more stressed, more depressed and their anxiety is off the charts. Still, there is one thing that seems to calm people down and that is good old Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, Santa Claus if you will.

I loved leaning on the gate of Santa’s little palace at the mall. I thought it was great seeing Mrs. Clause there doting over the children. The kids were lined up in their dress clothes and shinny shoes, and bows and slicked back hair waiting to sit on Santa’s lap and have a picture taken. More important is the looks on the children’s face that reminds me that these kids really do believe in the magic of Santa.

Still my thoughts kept wondering how did Santa discover that he could see many children in a mall or department store? I had to find out, so I decided to spend some time researching how Santa discovered department stores. My answer came to me from R.H. Macy Co. They were the first department store to have an in-store Santa back in 1862.

Wait! There is a debate here. According to the Old World Farmer’s Almanac Brockton, there is documentation that James Edgar, a downtown merchant in Brockton, Massachusetts was the first to put on the red suite and strolled through his store surprising children back in 1890.  Macy’s says “No no no impossible.” They were the first to have a Santa. Still another source who has done the research says that Santa started to appear in stores the 1870′s.

It is difficult to pinpoint where did the  store Santa originate and who wore the Santa suit first. I suppose in reality it does not matter. Today there are thousands and thousands of Santa’s everywhere; in fact, there are even Yule and Santa schools that teach people how to be Santa. I would think one would have to go to school in order to represent Santa. After all, those who wear the Santa suit would need to know the names of all the reindeers, how he gets down the chimney, how does he cover so much ground in such a short time, and how many elves does he really have.

Neither here nor there, what we know today is that Santa in the Malls in a tradition for families and children all over the world. Kids believe in that magic. There is nothing that can put a smile on my face faster than seeing a child sitting on Santa’s lap.   Merry Christmas to everyone and to all a wonderful New Year.

When I decided to write this, I kept thinking about the smiles on children’s faces, and so I cannot complete this article without offering my deepest condolences to the people in Newtown, Connecticut.

I personally did not care for the 80s. I had graduated school in the mid 70s so by the time the 80s came, I felt set in my ways. I felt fortunate that I grew up in the time that I did for many reasons, but mainly for the people and the music.  We had real music in the 60s and early 70s. We had The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, Grateful Dead, Steppenwolf, Crosby Stills and Nash. I was not really one for Flock of Seagulls, Air Supply, Culture Club, Rick Springfield, Bananarama, New Edition, Debbie Gibson, Milli Vanilli or Hall & Oates. Though I will say I am glad the 80s gave us great music like The Pretenders, U2, Radiohead, INXS, The Police, and REM.

After doing some research of the 80s to see if I could possibly understand why she thought her decade was better than mine, and once I got past the high hair and the mullet, the 80s did give us some interesting things. Well, I cannot say fashion was one of them. Each decade gives us a variety of fashion do’s and don’ts but I have to say the 80s had a great deal of don’ts. Shoulder pads, leg warmers, parachute pants, sweaters around your neck, acid wash jeans, and neon colors where clearly some of the big don’ts. Oh sure in my day, it was the hippy look, jeans, tie dye, love beads, leather vest and yes we had poor fashion, we had polyester and that was about as gross as it got and go-go boots, which I confess I had a pair.

The 80s had interesting television as well. It is important to note that in the 80s television changed because cable TV was available and more people were turning off local network stations to tune into home box office material. Still, the 80s gave us Alf, Married with Children, 21 Jump Street, Cagney & Lacey, The Simpsons, The A-Team, Miami Vice, Moonlighting, The Cosby Show, Doogie Howser, Golden Girls, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Wonder Years, MacGyver, St. Elsewhere , Magnum P.I. and Punky Brewster to name a few. Nighttime soaps made it big with as well, still, I longed for the shows I grew up with like Bewitched, Candid Camera, Get Smart, Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, The Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol Burnett Show. Most of the time in the 80s, I simply did not watch much TV and played music or watched cable.

The 80s did give kids some fun toys and games such as Trivial Pursuit, Cabbage Patch Kids, Care Bears, The Koosh Ball, Pictionary, Rubik’s Cube, Glow Worms, Pound Puppies,  Rainbow bright, and Strawberry Shortcake were all products of the 80s. You could play with those while enjoying your favorite 80s foods like Jumpin Jack Cheese Doritos, Hostess Pudding Pies, Chocolate Cow, Bonkers, Pudding Roll-Ups, Giggles, Pudding Pops, Pop Rocks, and raisins thanks to the antics of The California Raisins.

In addition the 80s gave us slang like, No Duh, Tubular, Righteous, Take A Chill Pill, Gag Me With a Spoon, Totally, Gnarly, Radical, Totally Grody, I’m so sure, Like, oh my God and Psych. Who am I to judge slang of the times though I still say groovy cool and freaked out.

Despite some of the weird music, or the high hair or God forbid the Mullet, people who grew up in the 80s love their generation. They share with their children what Dirty Dancing was, or Pac Man, they tell them about Madonna as they watch Lady Gaga. I have come to the conclusion that every decade has its own magic and what was my magic in my time might not be your magic, but still, I am glad I did not grow up in the 80s.

Women had a huge say in the 50s and 60s when it came to music. Yes, we live in a nation where some people would like to see us barefoot, pregnant and unable to make decisions about our body parts or choices. The Donna Reed era is over though and more women are just saying no to staying at home and taking care of their husbands. Many of these women are fully aware how much they influenced music. How honored we should be that women not only crawled up the charts, they rocked the charts in a male dominated business.  Let’s face it, can you imagine Ricky Nelson singing Aretha Franklins’ Respect? NOT! Women actually helped change and shift the music of my culture of the 60s.

Where would music be without women? Patti Page, Connie Francis, Shirley Bassey, Etta James, The Bobbettes, Della Reese, Doris Day, Peggy Lee, Mary Ford, Sarah Vaughan, Wanda Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday were just some of the women of the 50s that made wonderful music seem effortless. Their voices were natural and clear and their vocal delivery was precise. These were the women that broke ground for women to create the music they did in the 60s.

They paved the way for females to enter the arena of songwriting like Carol King and Joni Mitchell. These women songwriters would rock the world with great songs. Carol King wrote I Feel the Earth Move, It’s Too Late, I Feel the Earth Move,  So Far Away, The Loco-Motion, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, and hundreds more. Joni Mitchell wrote songs like Woodstock, Carrey, Both Sides Now, Help Me, and Big Yellow Taxi. I could not mention singer songwriters without mentioning Janis Ian who wrote and recorded Society’s Child and At Seventeen.

These brave singers of the 50s proved that a woman could make it in a man’s world. They showed that number one hits belonged to women as well as men. Girl groups like Diana Ross and the Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas topped the charts with hit after hit. Women that captured audiences with grace and style were wonderful singers like Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand, Dusty Springfield and Marianne Faithfull to name a very few.

Women not only showed us that their music was what emotions sounded like; they showed us that they could move our soul with Motown artists like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight. Momma Cass, Tina Turner, Grace Slick,  showed us a woman could rock and Janis Joplin not only showed us a woman could rock, she showed us a woman could rock just as good as a man.

How grateful I am that women still top the charts and have made the music world not a man’s business but a business for talented people no matter what sex or sexuality they are, what religion or color they are or what they personally believe in.  How amazed I am that women do not have to take steps backwards but we get to move forward and for many women, they will move forward through their music and songwriting. Therefore, my hat is off to the women who showed us that women and music do indeed go hand in hand and will continue to move forward.