Tag Archives: McSwells

Computer Blues

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Computer problems again. Deleting tons of photos. Clearing space for memory. I thought I deleted a lot of photos in the past but obviously I still have quite a bit. Not to mention a lot of photos were duplicated since I was too lazy to change the settings on my camera to a lower setting for the frame.

So if I have a pic that is 3225 x 2650 you can bet there is a 555 x 416 duplicated. And now a lot of pics are gone. Where do they go once you empty the recycle bin? They have to go somewhere. I know they’re still on the computer.

Last night was a nice time with Rand. I was plenty tired after riding about 40 miles and walked gingerly as I strode up Washington Street towards McSwells. Nobody I knew on the street at 8:00 which is the norm these days. It used to take me a long time since I knew a lot of people back then. Now, not so much.

After a few pints with Rand I wasn’t so achy anymore and gradually became animated somewhat. I put some money in the jukebox ensuring that for the next hour the music playing was selected by me. McSwells is a totally different scene, filled with hipsters nowadays rather than the characters of yesteryear.

Very much akin to what I hear Williamsburg is like, and like Hoboken had done in the 1980’s Williamsburg is gentrifying at a very fast pace. At least that’s what the interviews with TV on the Radio have mentioned. I haven’t been to Williamsburg in about a dozen years or so.

According to Harpy who works in the thick of Williamsburg hipsterdom, the hipsters hate to be called that. Which is all the more reason to call them hipsters, and not in the Graham Parker sense of ‘I’m the token hipster/ and you’re just the novelty set’.

Actually perhaps the hipsters are the novelty set. Watched a few Raphael Saadiq videos on the television of the past couple of hours. Such a personable and handsome guy that Raphael is. But enough about him.

I spoke with my brother Frank today who was a bit too upset about forgetting my birthday. I tried to let him know it was alright but it plays into the bigger picture of what has happened to his memory since the stroke. That would make me panicky.

I did my best to reassure him that it was ok, that I wasn’t Dad who would be greatly insulted if his birthday wasn’t recognized. I also spoke with Frank’s wife Elaine who apologized. There was no need for it.

In fact I always forget both my sister in law’s birthdays and they’re right after each other in December. I usually call Elaine and Karen on the 6th or the 7th and wish them a happy birthday only to find once again, after decades of having them in my life I still cannot get the dates right.

Rand and I parted ways after walking around Hoboken with me smoking a Padron and I was home by 11:45. Watched most of Saturday Night Live and I thought it was pretty funny. It seems they’ve taken to ending skits rather than let them peter out. That definitely makes all the difference. Kings of Leon were oksucked.

Walked around Hoboken this afternoon. Since I rode so much yesterday, staying put was nice. Finished the New Yorker, skipping the movie reviews since I’ve started reading them mostly, until after I’ve seen the movie.

this was posted on Bill’s laptop since my computer is crapping out.
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You say you’ll change the Constitution, well…you know, we all want to change your Head

Everyday

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Lately I’ve been listening to Grace Jones quite a bit. Don’t know why, but I do love the albums she recorded with the Compass Point All Stars who included Sly and Robbie among others. Really a crackerjack team of musicians behind her, better than the disco team that recorded her first three albums.

My friend Jet resembled Grace Jones a little bit. He was black and had a fade much like hers. It was the look he was going after and succeeded at least to me after a few drinks. I think the first time I actually heard Grace was when I was visiting my friend Stan in Wallington NJ. We were probably going to a show or something and Stan played the Nightclubbing album which is my favorite Grace Jones record.

Through the years a subconscious gauge on how much someone loved music meant they had to have at least one grace Jones album, preferably one with the Compass Point team. It seemed that a lot of people that I met did. Jimmy Lee, an ex-roommate was infatuated with the song, Living My Life.

A favorite memory of mine, is when I was a bar back at McSwells on Friday nights with Declan and Martha and Slave to the Rhythm was on the jukebox. Slave to the Rhythm is one of my favorite songs of all time, but while bar backing I would invariably play a different version of Slave to the Rhythm on the b-side, called GI Blues.

I called it Heavy Rhythm for a long time. A harder version which is perfect for walking through the streets of midtown Manhattan. I hear it and I am back behind the bar washing glasses, stocking the beer and telling customers that I wasn’t a bartender. After downloading a version of the song I finally bought the album last night through iTunes, which doesn’t make it an album, but rather a download. I have a cassette somewhere.

Today I checked out some YouTube videos and found something that I hadn’t looked for before to my surprise. It was Lambert Hendricks and Ross singing Everyday. I remember in 1988 coming home from McSwells in an altered state one Monday morning and too wired to sleep, I turned on the tv and watched a show with David Sanborn and Jools Holland called Sunday Night.

Either Jools or David introduced a clip from the 1950s and it just grabbed me right from the start. I was captivated, just watching them swinging and singing. Totally captivated. I told my brother Frank about it and of course, he had some info and gossip about Lambert Hendricks and Ross.

It must have been before the holidays because for Xmas that year Frank got me a copy of Lambert Hendricks and Ross’ Greatest Hits. I loved it and played it quite a bit. A few years after that, I’m working at Right Track Recording and I forget who the client was, but a phone call came in for them.

I picked up the call and asked who it was and the caller said, Jon Hendricks. I sort of bent the rules and asked if he was the same Jon Hendricks from Lambert Hendricks and Ross. He said yes, that he was. I told him about seeing the clip from the 1950s on TV and it was amazing, I gushed.

I could tell that he was impressed that the music he made 40 years earlier was being appreciated by a younger generation. It was a small thrill just chatting with him for a minute. He did visit the Manhattan Transfer, that’s who he was calling for and made it a point to see me and shake my hand, thanking me for knowing his music.

A few years ago, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross were performing together for what promised to be the last time. Dave Lambert died in a car accident in 1966. Annie was upset that Jon had mentioned that Annie was a junkie back in the day. She honored the engagements that were booked, but after that, never again.

I took Bill for an Xmas present to see them at the Blue Note. Cramped and crowded it wasn’t the best venue to see them but at least I had an opportunity to see the two of them for perhaps the last time.

Here’s the clip that I originally saw twenty years or at least I think it is. I still love it!
2.17.2020: Here’s the studio version, I hope you like it, let me know what you think!

https://youtu.be/ruztzNc8nn4