GOLDEN HOURS ON ANGEL WINGS
Monthly Archives: December 2023
LA CONVIVIENCIA: Peaceful coexisting
BY RICHARD K MUNRO
- “It’s not enough to not teach hatred, and it’s not enough to simply teach tolerance. A more promising solution is direct and routine contact with those who look different or worship differently or speak different languages. ” JOHN MORROW
- Yes and as the Spanish say CONVIVIENCIA a word translated as “peaceful coexistence or living and interacting every day together and getting to know and have a basic respect and affection for.”
One of the reasons, I suspect, you looked at “Negroes” (the 1950s and early 1960s term) as others is that you lacked conviviencia. I came from a cosmopolitan immigrant family but even for us our CONVIVIENCIA was limited via some groups in the NYC area.
My parents knew many Jewish friends, many Cuban friends (interestingly multiethnic), and many British friends but my father had only one close relationship with an African American (he and his wife were the only African Americans at my father’s retirement party in 1976). I remember they talked about meeting Jackie Robinson in the 1960s and having seen the Dodgers play in the 1940s and 1950s. I mentioned to my wife the other day the only racially diverse group I knew as a boy were the Cubans and Brazilians we knew in New Jersey and New York chiefly from sports (baseball and AYSO soccer). My father and I went to see (in color) the 1970 World Cup on closed-circuit TV in Harrison, NJ (in Portuguese). Almost everyone there except for us was Brazilian or Latin American. I also mentioned that I did not have a single African-American teacher k-12 or in the university (NYU). I had many Hispanic teachers by contrast (chiefly Cuban and Puerto Rican). The first time I had daily interaction and CONVIENCIA with African Americans was 1975-1977 when I served in the United States Marine Corps. I knew African American officers and NCOs and we worked closely together, trained together, and listened to sports on the Armed Forces Radio together. Today we have African-American friends and neighbors and coreligionists (we are Roman Catholic). As a Catholic, I have never attended a segregated Mass in my life if you exclude visits to rural Ireland in the 1970s.
And the world has changed dramatically since 1959. We recently attended the wedding of our godson (an African American of Irish and French Canadian origin) to Mexican American woman of French and Spanish origin. Very diverse population at the wedding. Soon my daughter will be attending a Hindu wedding for Indian-Americans. Soon we will be attending a local wedding of one of my daughter’s high school classmates. The bride is African-American (a graduate of Yale) and the groom is Australian.
Our son is married to a Mexican immigrant; our daughter is married to a naturalized Mexican immigrant. All of our grandchildren are racially mixed (and growing up as native Spanish speakers). I have met dozens of African immigrants (millions have immigrated from Africa to the USA in recent decades). I asked a number of them if they had been reluctant to emigrate to the USA because of her systemic racism. Most had experiences in other countries (Japan, France, Britain) and said the USA was the least racist and classist country in the world. Most appreciated the almost complete religious and political tolerance.
Most say they rarely experienced overt racial discrimination in daily life and in their jobs. Many have intermarried (or their children have intermarried) with Whites, Hispanics and Asians.
So from where I stand the Melting Pot (perhaps somewhat segregated 100 years ago) bubbles on.
I think only through CONVIVIENCIA and intermarriage can we overcome or diminish racial animus and prejudice over time. I am generally optimistic.
However. class prejudice and national prejudice will endure in some form.
People will always be prejudiced in favor of the rich, the young, and the slender and scorn the less rich, the less young, and the less slim. People will prefer their religion and their native language over the languages and religions of others.
President Obama’s daughters are beautiful, well-connected, and wealthy. Those factors, not their racial ancestry, give them many advantages. I doubt very much if their lives and careers (today and tomorrow) will be hampered by systemic racism.
I could be wrong of course.
I have lived a long time.
Some people have treated me with fairness and justice and others have not.
No one ever asked me for my resume or offered me a job.
I think it is not easy to be a first-generation American with a slight foreign accent without any money or family connections.
My father was the first and only one in his family to graduate from high school and go to college (Brooklyn College). During WW2 he rose in the ranks from E1 to O2 serving from 1942-1946 (remaining in the reserves until 1953). In my father’s time it was definitely an advantage to have been a military veteran (he went to NYU business school on the GI Bill).
By contrast, my experience as a veteran was very mixed. Many people have shown prejudice and negative attitudes towards my service. I was told, for example, not to list my military experience on my resume something I was reluctant to do. But when I did not include my military experience I got interviews and when I did have my military experience on my resume I did not get interviews.
Naturally, I gravitated towards places and jobs where my military experience was valued because I was proud of my service. I am prouder of having graduated from Marine Corps OCS than NYU.
I worked in construction for five years and the man who hired me was former Marine DI. Then later I worked at a bank and the man who hired me was a Korean War Air Force vet.
After years of struggle to get a full-time job a former Army Major (Korean War veteran) hired me as a full-time high school teacher in Arvin, California. I got the job because I had the qualifications because I spoke Spanish (most of our players were Spanish-speaking) I was willing to coach Soccer and baseball because I was willing to teach night school because I was willing and able to support the high school JROTC program and because I was willing to move to rural Kern County. For over 32 years I taught mostly poor and immigrant students. I taught History, English and Spanish for Native Speakers. I founded the AP program at my high school and taught AP Spanish, AP Spanish Literature and AP US History.
My first job after the military and college was unloading railcars (something I did gladly and successfully I was young and strong then).
I worked very hard at many jobs so as not to fall out of the middle class ( I felt at age 21-26 my middle-class existence was very precarious). I did not have a phone, just a PO box and a 1972 Chrysler with over 100,000 miles. I never was quite homeless (slept in the back of the car or camped out showering at truck stops) and had very little money.
But I was careful with my money, stayed sober (usually), and worked nights for years eventually getting my 5th Year Certification in Spanish, Social Studies, and English which led to a solid career in k-12 education with some stints in JC and as an adjunct professor for ETS grading AP exams. I have taught in Spain, Virginia, Washington State and California. All of our three children are college graduates. All three worked during college (IHOP etc.), and all three are fluent in Spanish and English. We made many personal sacrifices to raise our children as educated Spanish and English native speakers. Two are teachers and one is an engineer. I can honestly say sending three children to college was a group effort. We helped, their siblings helped and our children helped themselves by hard work and modest lifestyles.
Duolingo
Since I retired I have reviewed LATIN by completing two books of Latin readings and then by studying MODERN GREEK and ITALIAN. I also review Scottish Gaelic, GERMAN, SPANISH and PORTUGUESE about 10-15 minutes each. Those languages I have studied formally and know reasonably well. It takes me about 25-30 minutes to do a Greek lesson and only about 10-15 minutes to do Italian so I figure Greek is twice as hard as Italian. I find language study engrossing. I lose myself in “Grammar Land”
THE WISDOM OF MBUTI TENIENTE
BY RICHARD K, MUNRO
“Some people bring out the best in people. Try to be that person. It especially happens when you believe in greater values than merely your own self-interest. When you believe in something bigger than yourself -in your school, your nation, in the human brotherhood, in God, in your school, your Regiment, your unit- you rise to the occasion because you are part of a team with a definite goal and you don’t want to let down your comrades in arms.
Remember you can’t do it by yourself and you owe a lot to your family, your country, your Regiment, your school, your team, your friends, your teachers. Above all, cultivate the virtue of gratitude. One can never promote one’s own highest good without at the same time furthering the good of others. A life based on narrow self-interest cannot be considered honorable by any measurement.
God made us strong only for a while so that we can help others. Our human social contract is not only with the few people with whom we have daily dealings and with whom our personal lives are immediately entwined, nor to the rich or the prominent or the famous or the well-educated but is with all our human brethren. View yourself as a citizen of the world as well as an American -Kosmopolites- and act accordingly. This is the only life you have this side of paradise. Don’t be an S.O.B. ”
“Mbuti Teniente” (the Good Lieutenant) THOMAS MUNRO, Jr. 1915-2003 1st Lt. USAR 1942-1953 US military police 1942-1943; US Transportation Corps 1944-1946, Pacific Theater. Hawaii, Guam, Tinian, Saipan, and the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
He was a kind and generous soul. He was a wise man who valued wisdom over wealth. He was a faithful husband and a good father. I remember the afternoon he died. I recalled an old Western we both loved. GARDEN OF EVIL. Richard Widmark, the gambler is mortally wounded. The sun is setting. He says to Gary Cooper “THERE IT GOES HOOKER. Every day it takes someone. Now it’s me.” I stopped the car and watched the sunset. remembering my father and realizing I would never again wake to a morning with my father but grateful he was in my life for 47 years.
Fresh from the Vaults: Black Friday 2023 Jazz
Black Friday has come and gone, leaving a trail of vinyl & silicon breadcrumbs at indie record stores. And, as typical of previous years, there’s been more than a smattering of fine jazz released, as the archives of artists, legendary venues and European broadcasters give up their secrets to the delight of listeners worldwide. Four quite special sets caught my ear this time around . . .
Resonance Recordings continues its deep dive into the music of guitarist Wes Montgomery; Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings catches him live in New York City, backed by the Wynton Kelly Trio. Pianist Kelly and drummer Jimmy Cobb were key players on Miles Davis’ game-changing Kind of Blue; teaming with a round robin of bassists that includes once-and-future Miles sidemen Paul Chambers and Ron Carter, they launch plenty of lean, thrusting grooves and hypnotic vamps that give Montgomery room to take off. And does he ever: whether on untitled 12-bar jams, highlights of Miles’ book like “Impressions” and “No Blues”, standards from Broadway (“All the Things You Are”) and bebop (“Birks’ Works” and “Cherokee”), or his great original “Four on Six”, Wes is endlessly inventive, spinning out fleet, angular licks, spiky chordal excursions and his trademark octave lines in fluent, inspired fashion. The shape-shifting finale “Star Eyes” is a real highlight, but every track has its thrills, showing that this group’s classic album from the same year, Smokin’ at the Half Note, was only the tip of the iceberg.
Montgomery isn’t the only jazz legend whose riches producer Zev Feldman has been excavating; released on Elemental Music, Tales: Live in Copenhagen 1964 marks his 11th cache of buried treasure from Bill Evans (the main pianist on Kind of Blue). Plowing his own furrow after leaving Miles, Evans steered the piano trio format away from solos with backup toward a conversation of equals, an ideal he pursued the rest of his life. This album presents that ideal in perhaps its purest form; caught on tape by Danish radio and TV, bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker drive the music onward as much as their nominal leader, while Evans complements his partners’ vibrant ideas with shimmering backing and radiant flights of fancy. Multiple takes give up the secrets of pensive weeper “My Foolish Heart”, bittersweet waltz “How My Heart Sings” and speedy flagwaver “Sweet and Lovely”, grounded in a supple rhythmic bedrock, unlocking the melodic and harmonic possibilities only master players in tune with each other can find. Immediately, immensely appealing, but with subtle delights galore beneath the surface.
From the 1950s on, vibraphonist Cal Tjader won plaudits for his forward-looking emphasis on Latin rhythms – though recognition of his innovations faded as the sound became more mainstream. Feldman’s Jazz Detective label aims to right the balance with Catch The Groove: Live at the Penthouse 1963-67 — and succeeds brilliantly! In all six sets (originally broadcast from the Seattle club), Tjader lays down his jazz credentials through standbys like Ellington’s “Take The A Train”, Miles’ “On Green Dolphin Street” and Milt Jackson’s “Bags’ Groove”, then cooling down to a warm hush on ballads “It Never Entered My Mind” and “The Shadow of Your Smile”. But when percussionist Armando Peraza (later the beating heart of Carlos Santana’s most popular bands) brings the rhythms to a boil on “Morning of the Carnival”, “Cuban Fantasy” and Tjader originals “Davito” and “Leyte”, the results are spectacular! Throughout, the playing of Tjader and his sidemen is solid, strong and tasty — even heating up the Association’s “Along Comes Mary” for an unexpectedly spicey closer.
Before his passing earlier this year, one of piano giant Ahmad Jamal’s last public acts was to authorize Jazz Detective’s releasing three double-disc sets from the Penthouse archives; the last in the series, Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse 1966-68, is another towering monument to his unique blend of conceptual chops and melodic mass appeal. Teaming with Jamil Nasser on bass and Frank Gant on drums, Jamal swiftly grasps the essence of every tune, then unfurls spontaneous variations that polish their inherent possibilities to a persistent dazzle. Catchy rhythmic vamps, daring harmonic reinventions, ample space for Nasser and Gant to strut their stuff — it’s all here, along with heaping helpings of precision filigree and gutbucket swing. You’ll never quite hear chestnuts like “Misty” and “Autumn Leaves” the same way again — and when Jamal turns the samba “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” into an uptempo barnburner and backspins a ballad like “Where Is Love” into hipster territory, you’re gonna want more! (Good thing there’s three volumes, eh?)
Beyond Feldman’s extensive explorations, we’ve also been gifted with the third in a series of Brubeck Editions, “new, officially authorized releases of great music featuring Dave Brubeck and his many musical collaborators”. The Dave Brubeck Quartet Live from the Northwest, 1959 gathers hotel and college dates from Multmonah, Oregon recorded by legendary engineer Wally Heider — although, with the game changing Time Out album in the can but as yet unreleased, there was nary a 5/4 tune on the horizon. Instead, Brubeck leans into standards and originals where he can sound like a one-man big band with his two-fisted block chords, launch into spontaneous counterpoint with saxophonist Paul Desmond, or ride the dynamics of “Basin Street Blues”, “These Foolish Things” and “The Lonesome Road” from a whisper to a roar — all hurtled along by the nimble propulsion of bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello. The whole set is a marvelous example of four talents locked onto each other’s wavelengths, working as one; liner notes from Brubeck’s sons Darius, Dan, Matt and Chris offer up rich insights to underline the virtuoso interplay and effortless momentum on display.
— Rick Krueger
A Christmas Carol for Today
Merry Christmas, S.o.C. readers and followers! In the spirit of the season, we would like to share this beautiful song by Stephen Herreid, “Father Aeneas Bails You Out”.
It tells the story of a Roman Catholic priest who bails out a friend from jail during an apocalyptic war in the near future – “Washington was blown to hell”. Sounds depressing, but it is actually full of hope and affirmation of life. Herreid sings of how some things are eternal – truth, charity, and Christian love. As Father Aeneas explains to his friend, “You should belong somewhere on Christmas Eve”.
As Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” proved earlier this year, there is a real hunger for straightforward songs that aren’t afraid to tell the truth. It doesn’t take a fancy recording studio and expensive instruments to create powerful art. May Steven Herreid’s new Christmas carol be a blessing for you and yours this season.
Rush’s Permanent Waves and Exit…Stage Left – An Appreciation
Greetings, SoC readers! In our latest symposium, Brad, Erik, Kevin, and Tad discuss a true prog classic: Rush’s 1980 album, Permanent Waves, with a side trip to their live album, Exit…Stage Left.
Tad: Gentlemen, let me state right off the bat that Permanent Waves is my favorite Rush album. I know it’s not their “best”, but it is the one I listen to most often. I love the way it bridges earlier albums like A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres to future masterpieces like Moving Pictures and Power Windows. Also, it’s the first album where Geddy tones down his banshee wail a bit, paving the way for mass acceptance.
Erik: Tad – while Moving Pictures is my favorite Rush album, I certainly think a good case can be made for Permanent Waves. And to give it due credit, I don’t think Moving Pictures can be made by Rush without them first making Permanent Waves. As you mention, it serves as a bridge from their previous works to what they became in the 1980’s.
One thing that Permanent Waves represents to me is Rush learning how to trim the fat, so to speak. Over previous albums, Rush had become more ambitious in their musical output, from both a compositional standpoint as well as their experimentation with different sounds, including keyboards. Although this phenomena began almost as soon as Peart joined the band, they really turned it up to 11 starting with 2112. It culminated with Hemispheres, which included the side-long suite that gave the album its title as well as the incredibly complex instrumental, La Villa Strangiato (and I must mention it also contained my favorite anti-commie song of all time, The Trees). When compared to these previous albums, Permanent Waves seems relatively stripped down. Indeed, members of the band stated that they were exhausted making Hemispheres and were looking to scale things back at the time they recorded Permanent Waves.
In doing such an album, Rush added the final piece to their repertoire that made Moving Pictures possible – the ability to be economical with their music and the balancing of that with larger ambitions. Indeed, there were not-so-subtle hints that they were doing this on my two favorite pieces from the album, Jacob’s Ladder and Natural Science. Both of these songs show the ambition that drives some of the best progressive rock, while also showing enough restraint to attain the aforementioned balance.
I have a few other observations I’ll make in my next entry, but for now, I’ll turn the floor over to one of the other participants here.
Brad: Dear Tad, Erik, and Kevin! From the blistering guitar attack in the opening moments of Permanent Waves (Spirit of Radio) to the final, sighing ambient sounds (Natural Science), this album is a stunner. It’s so utterly different from all the Rush albums that preceded it, and, yet, in some mysterious way, it’s a perfect continuation of Rush music and magic.
As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t come to Rush until the spring of 1981. I was a seventh grader at Liberty Junior High in Hutchinson, Kansas, and I had done something to earn detention. Detention meant an extra period after school in the school library. None of this really mattered–my mom wouldn’t get home from work until 5, so she’d never know that I was in detention, and the library was my favorite place at the junior high.
I don’t even remember what I did to earn detention, but I’m sure it had something to do with me talking too much in class.
Regardless, my fellow detainees were Troy and Brad (a different Brad). One of them had a Genesis Duke lapel pin (on his jean jacket), and we started talking progressive rock. I was quite familiar with Genesis, Yes, and Kansas, but I’d never heard of Rush. Troy and Brad assured me that I had to listen to Moving Pictures, the latest album from Rush. Despite detention, I immediately went out and bought the album. I was immediately hooked!
From there, I worked backward, encountering the beauty that is Permanent Waves. I loved the six songs, I loved the cover and the artwork, and I especially loved the lyrics.
Strangely, though, it wasn’t until I first met Kevin McCormick that I became obsessed with the lyrics for “Natural Science”. As a gift to me, Kevin (in his beautiful and distinctive penmanship) wrote out the lyrics of the song for me. I carefully folded those lyrics and kept them in my wallet for decades. Indeed, they shaped my whole outlook on life. I’m a practicing Catholic, but, thanks to Peart and Kevin, I will also always be an idealistic Stoic.
Since I have the floor, I’ll also add this. Tad, I love that you included Exit Stage Left in this discussion. Rush, I think, at least up through Different Stages always bookended the various styles of their music with a live album. After Vapor Trails, Rush began to release live album after live album, thus changing their previously careful M.O. All to the good, I say, as I want more Rush rather than less Rush.
Still, back to Exit Stage Left. If I had to list my ten favorite live albums of all time, Exit would be among them. Maybe not number one, as I think the production values of the album sound dated at this point. But, the music. So glorious. And, the transitions from song to song are just extraordinary.
I especially appreciate the transition on side three of the double album, Broon’s Bane to The Trees to Xanadu. Heaven itself! I realize that the album came from several different concerts, but I would’ve loved to have been at any one for the Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures tours.
Tad: Erik, I think you nailed one of the most attractive characteristics of Permanent Waves – there is absolutely no fat; it’s the leanest album of their career! Even the relatively long tracks, “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Natural Science” (7:27 and 9:19 respectively) are models of conciseness. Brad, I agree with you that “Natural Science” is a keeper. It is my favorite song on the album. When Alex starts an arpeggiated riff and Geddy first sings
Wheel within wheels in a spiral array
A pattern so grand and complex
Time after time we lose sight of the way
Our causes can’t see their effects
is one of their greatest musical moments. And of course, I have to appreciate Peart’s hopeful take on humanity:
The most endangered species, the honest man
Will still survive annihilation.
Another favorite song – and this might be a surprise to you all – is “Different Strings”. It’s so unlike anything Rush had recorded before – understated, elegant, and, well, hushed in its sound. I love how Geddy utilizes harmonics on his bass to underline the melody, while Alex pulls off a lazy, loping guitar solo.
“Entre Nous” is simply a beautiful song, both in melody and lyrics. There is perfect balance in it between the heavy guitar riff at the beginning and Alex’s delicate touch during the chorus. Meanwhile, Neil’s lyrics are very mature – it’s impossible for two individuals to fully know and understand each other, but it is possible to grow close via mutual respect.
Erik: Great, stuff guys! I am happy that we all have agreement on Natural Science and Jacob’s Ladder.
Another fond memory I have of this album was that it marked the time when I really started to hear Rush on the radio frequently. I had been a Rush fan for about two years at this point, but only occasionally heard them on the radio, with songs like “Fly By Night,” “Closer to the Heart,” and “Working Man.” I don’t recall ever hearing anything off of “2112” or “Hemispheres” on the radio in those days. But starting with Permanent Waves, Rush broke through on my preferred FM rock station quite forcefully, starting with the ironic hit The Spirit of Radio. I call it ironic because the song was basically a call for artistic integrity over going for the lowest common denominator to have hits, and yet this song might have been Rush’s biggest hit up to that time. I certainly heard it on the radio much more than any of their previous music. Entre Nous and Freewill also got plenty of radio airplay. On the latter of those two, along with The Spirit of Radio, I was also able to get a preview of Permanent Waves when I caught my first Rush concert at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY, in September of 1979. Oddly, I remembered Freewill more than the hit song.
Increased radio airplay is another way that Permanent Waves presaged what was to come the following year with Moving Pictures, as it exposed Rush to a wider audience that was receptive to the follow-on. Another aspect of the music that I noticed here was the incorporation of certain sounds not found on previous Rush albums, particularly the reggae-influenced interlude found on The Spirit of Radio. Similar sounds found their way onto the next two albums with Vital Signs in Moving Pictures, and Digital Man on Signals. I’ve read elsewhere that the members of the band were listening to The Police quite a bit around this time, and these reggae excursions are evidence of that. They serve as more evidence of the manner in which Permanent Waves served as a turning point that teed up Rush for what was to come.
Onto Exit … Stage Left now. If this is not my favorite live album of all time, it is certainly in the top five. Between February and October of 1981, no album of mine was in more heavy rotation than Moving Pictures. It took another Rush release – the live album we are discussing – to change things. This was just such a stellar live album, great recording and great sound throughout.
Brad, you and I are going to be doing a Vulcan mind meld on what proved to be side three of the vinyl edition of Exit … Stage Left – Broon’s Bane, to The Trees, and into Xanadu. While all four sides of that album received plenty of play by me, none received more than this epic side three. And as for Xanadu itself? This is my favorite version, which I strongly favor over the studio version. The latter was a bit dry in its sound and production overall, while the live version here smoothed out the rough edges without losing any of the punch or dynamics of the original.
But to give the other sides their due, mention must be made of a rousing version of Closer to the Heart, which received more than a little well-deserved airplay of its own. Freewill and Jacob’s Ladder also make respective appearances, coming off well in the live setting. And of course, we have the rousing intro on side one with The Spirit of Radio. In short, Exit … Stage Left perfectly encapsulates the Rush era that played out between their previous live album and this one. In sound, setlist, and performance, it’s really hard to find a better live album than this, and I’m not sure I ever have. Insert chef’s kiss -here-. 🙂
Brad: Tad, I’m completely with you on Entre Nous and Different Strings. Each shows a side of Rush rarely seen but always appreciated. Erik, I really appreciate your enthusiasm, especially for the various sides of Exit. . . Stage Left. Somehow, the band just really captured its best self with that live album. As much as I appreciate all Rush live albums (and I own them all in various formats), it’s always Exit. . . Stage Left that I go back to the most. It’s one of my-all time favorite live albums as well.
Overall, though, I must state, as much as I love Permanent Waves (and I do), in hindsight, the album really feels like a transition album, itself pointing to something else. In this case, it’s pointing toward Moving Pictures and Signals but, I think, also to the very angular Grace Under Pressure. Power Windows and Hold Your Fire seem well beyond Permanent Waves, taking both new wave and jazz fusion in fascinating directions.
Natural Science, though, is the one exception to this transition idea. It seems it could’ve only existed on Permanent Waves. Nothing like it had ever come before and really nothing like it would ever come again. Not only is the song perfectly constructed, but Neil’s stoic lyrics really hit the peak of his writing. I think Camera Eye off Moving Pictures was probably an attempt at a sequel to Natural Science. Yet, as gorgeous as Camera Eye is, it simply doesn’t possess the power (more refined than raw) of Natural Science.
Kevin: Hear, hear! To all you gents for your wonderful reflections on this tremendous recording and its live cousin! Once again I’m late to the party–but with good reasons. 1)It’s recital time for the guitar studio, so my time is limited and 2) I plan to give a more complete treatment of this masterpiece on these Spirit of Cecilia pages in the coming days. However, to this already detailed commentary here, I would just like to add that, for me, Permanent Waves is the masterpiece and Moving Pictures is the unusually powerful sequel.
Lemme’ e’splain…no, there is too much, Lemme summup: It’s not only that without Permanent Waves there would be no Moving Pictures, though Erik’s observation is true enough. But it is precisely the beautifully blended nature of the artistry of Permanent Waves where its genius lies.
Moving Pictures captured a nearly global audience; its themes of personal independence and encounters with modernity make it universally relatable in the global modern age. This combined with the new-found confidence the band discovered upon really breaking through to regular radio play, as Tad so rightly states. Furthermore, Exit…Stage Left followed quickly on MP’s heels right when MTV was just launching. The engaging live videos from these songs suddenly reached an enormously broad audience they might have otherwise missed in the times of the radio ghettos of the early eighties. Neil Peart stated many times that this was when Rush had found its sound.
And as much as I love that sound, it’s heavy: musically, thematically, and aurally. I miss the whimsy of their earlier recordings. Permanent Waves retains some of that whimsy both in its sound and in the lyrics. There is a personal touch found on the album that I sense as more intimate than on Moving Pictures. That touch certainly returns on subsequent albums, but there is something magical about the combination of sounds and wonders on Permanent Waves. Brad notes in his own inimical style, the opening flurry of Spirit of Radio–it’s brilliant! Not only musically, but it’s a bright, shimmering sound—“a shifting shaft of shining.” And it shimmers throughout the album.
Here these young travelers are forging through completely new territory as a band. They don’t know exactly what they are doing or where they are going, but that’s the genius of it. The magic is created through the instincts of three musicians who have spent countless hours on the road together. They’ve tried to carve their own sound, but have gotten lost in the trees (and the fountain of lamneth). Finally they arrive at this creative space with all of their skills and ideas intact and they simply let loose!
The resulting work of art resounds with the spirit of youth, the confidence of the road warrior, and the slight uncertainty of the as-yet unwise sage. It’s a joy to listen to and still has an incredible power, both spiritual and musical, after so many years. So Hear Hear!: To the boys in Morin-Heights in that Canadian autumn weaving the fabric of our dreams!
Brad: Kevin, what great thoughts. So glad you joined the conversation. It wouldn’t be a Rush conversation without you! I very much look forward to your fuller thoughts on all this.
Tad: One last thing I’d like to add – I love the cover art for Exit…Stage Left! I think it is the first time Hugh Syme incorporated visual puns, and boy, this cover is packed with them. There are images from every previous Rush album, and when I first saw it I was like a kid in a candy store.
Gentlemen, thank you for your wonderful insights into Permanent Waves and Exit…Stage Left. I think most diehard Rush fans would agree that this period in the group’s long career was a peak. And, it was nice to see them finally break through to a much wider audience. They never looked back, did they?
Steve Hackett’s Golden Anniversary Celebration
Brad Birzer and Tad Wert are having a listen to Steve Hackett’s new live set, Foxtrot at 50. Here are their reactions to this latest offering from one of the most important artists in the world of prog.
Tad: Ok, Brad, you are the one who wanted to discuss this album. I had not heard it before you shared it with me, and I am really impressed. For a guy in his 70s, Mr. Hackett can really cook on the guitar! He has assembled a crack band for this tour, and I love the format: a mix of solo and Genesis tunes on the first disc, followed by a complete performance of Genesis’s classic album, Foxtrot.
I think it’s terrific how Hackett has come into his own the past few years. While Genesis seems to have effectively retired from the music scene, and Peter Gabriel releases an album once a decade or so, Steve Hackett has built a thriving career on his solo albums as well as offering contemporary takes on classic Genesis cuts.
Brad: Dear, dear Tad. So glad to have this conversation with you, my friend. A few years ago–back when we were with Progarchy–I had the chance to interview Steve Hackett. Somehow, I’d messed up the time (yes, me being a humanities guy, big surprise!), and I was an hour off. It didn’t matter. I think I had messed up Hackett’s dinner time, and he was still a total gentleman with me. I had already loved the guy, but this made me love him even more. So very gracious.
Over the past 11 years, Hackett has done a brilliant job of re-imagining Genesis, 1970-1977. In 2012, he released Genesis Revisited II, including contributions from Steven Wilson and Neal Morse. I think this was an album that helped define a moment in progressive rock history–a recreation of prog wave 1 into prog wave 3. Since then, Hackett has continued to make his own music, but he does so by reforming the past rather than revolutionizing it. In other words, Hacket holds the distinction of being a man of piety–one of the three most important virtues for the republicans of Rome.
Genesis Revisited II is a gorgeous album.
Since then, he’s been releasing live albums with his band. In each live album, he has excellently mixed his own original and new genius music with that of the music of Genesis. Honestly, it feels like he never left Genesis (Peter Gabriel-era and immediately post-Peter Gabriel era). Instead, his music–especially the newer material–feels like an incredible extension of what Genesis did so gloriously in the early to mid-1970s. Again, as noted above, there’s that brilliant level of piety, a virtue I hold in highest esteem.
I’m proud to proclaim Hackett’s music as simply the best of past and current prog!
As the latest album indicates, Hackett and his superb live band had decided to celebrate Foxtrot, now a little bit over the half-century mark in age. As such, the band plays, live, Watcher of the Skies, Time Table, Get ‘Em Out by Friday, Can Utility and the Coastliners, Horizons, and Supper’s Ready.
While all six songs are extraordinary, it’s the deftness of the last three that really make one long prog track, a contrived track worthy of celebration. Even thematically, these last three songs go together, looking at and examining the sycophancy surrounding King Canute to the Apocalypse and the second coming of Our Lord, Jesus Christ (the “eternal Sanctuary man”!).
I’ve often joked that I want Big Big Train to play Supper’s Ready at my funeral. However, hearing Hackett’s live version, I might want his band. Or, better yet, maybe Big Big Train and Steve Hackett’s live band playing at my funeral. I’d also like Supper’s Ready to be a forty-minute version (complete with Spawton’s brass band) rather than the typical 28-plus minute version.
And, for what it’s worth, Tad, I absolutely love to bake bread. One of my favorite things in the world. What does this have to do with Genesis? Here’s my explanation. Foxtrot is my go-to album when I’m baking. It’s exactly the right length of time and has the right cadences to not only mix the bread but to knead it and set it into the oven, allowing it to rise. So, no album has more permeated my kitchen than Foxtrot. I assume my kids associate it with the smell of yeast and beer (to raise the bread properly).
Tad: Brad, what a wonderful application of Foxtrot! I agree that Hackett does not merely recreate the old masterpieces of Genesis’s heyday, but he reforms them, updates them, and puts his personal stamp on them. I see that Nad Sylvan is the vocalist. He sounds terrific – he has a bit of Peter Gabriel’s rasp, but he also makes these familiar songs new and interesting.
For a live album, I am really impressed with how good the sound is overall. There is some venue ambience, but the instruments and vocals are all clean and well-defined. The audience is obviously attentive, appreciative, and respectful. The “Watcher of the Skies” on this album is really stunning, and then comes “Time Table”, which is even better!
Finally, I love having such an excellent performance of “Supper’s Ready” that was recorded with the most up-to-date technology.
Brad: Yeah, Tad, I’m not exactly sure how Hackett does it, but he does have the uncanny ability of melding his own music–whether from the 1970s or from his most recent album–with that of early Genesis. Maybe his sound from Genesis was so unique in its contributions, but he simply continues to contribute to that sound. . . which NEVER sounds dated. In fact, if there’s one thing that can be stated with absolute certainty is that Hackett is always and everywhere a class act. A true gentleman in prog world.
I would like to note here that I think his original tracks, Ace of Wands, Tower Struck Down, and, especially Shadow of the Hierophant sound not just as good as Genesis, but sound as if they could’ve come from Gabriel-era Genesis itself.
I especially love Shadow of the Hierophant, a classic progressive rock track.
You mentioned Nad Sylvan as the perfect singer for Hackett’s latest incarnation, and I couldn’t agree more. On Shadow, he has Amanda Lehmann sing, and she has a gorgeous voice. While this isn’t from Foxtrot at Fifty, it does capture perfectly the power of the song live:
Lehmann, drummer Gary O’Toole, and bass pedalist Nick Beggs especially make this version come alive.
Tad: Well, Brad, I think we can both agree that Mr. Hackett is enjoying a well-deserved career renaissance! I really appreciate the fact that he is nurturing so many younger musicians on his tours. There are very few people whose career has spanned so many years and remain vital, creative artists. May Steve Hackett have many, many more years to delight us!
Spirit of Cecilia 
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