You can well imagine that I’m chomping at the bit to read this book. After reading this review, I can barely contain myself. I’ve read some of Joe Milliken’s pieces on the rock world and particular musicians. You will not be disappointed if you BUY THIS BOOK. You can pre-order it through the publisher, Rowman & Littlefield. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538118658
Notable Quote: “Believe me, Benny just had this incredible electricity about him. He would walk into a room and whether they knew him or not, people just felt there was something special about this guy…. I swear that in the mid-sixties, Benny was like the Elvis Presley of Cleveland.” — Wayne Weston, friend and former bandmate.
My quick 2 cents: Between the unique writing style, the candid memories of many important people, and the generous number of previously unpublished photos, Benjamin Orr’s inspiring story comes to life in these pages. Buy it!
The full scoop: Any retrospective on the late 1970s and 1980s HAS to include some focus on the new wave rock legends, The Cars. A debut album that stayed on the charts for 139 consecutive weeks, winners of the first…
Remains Repository at the World Trade Center Site *
In a space between the two Twin Tower footprints at bedrock, visitors see a wall behind which the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York operates and maintains a repository for the unidentified remains and a small work space.
A repository for the remains of 9/11 victims under the jurisdiction of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York (OCME) is located at bedrock at the World Trade Center site. The repository is an official New York City facility operated by the OCME, and is designed to meet the OCME’s professional specifications for access, security and environmental controls. The repository provides a dignified and reverential setting for the remains to repose – temporarily or in perpetuity – as identifications continue to be made. The OCME is committed to the ongoing work to identify the remains of 9/11 victims, but no DNA testing will be performed on site at the repository.
The repository is separate from the public space of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and is only accessible by OCME staff. A private space exclusively for 9/11 family members, known as the Reflection Room, is located next to the repository. No portion of these spaces is accessible to the general public. There is no cost for 9/11 family members to visit the repository or the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
Additional information about the repository from the OCME can be found here.
Weekly, Song Lyric Sunday provides two great pleasures: Nostalgia and discovery. This week’s theme, “picture/photograph“, satisfied both pleasures for me. My nostalgic favorite, Jim Croce’s “Photographs and Memories,” has already been posted by Scarlett79. In searching for a second choice, I discovered Guy Clark’s “My Favorite Picture Of You,” his sweet, poignant ode to his late wife. The picture he sings about was taken in 1972, the first of their 40-year marriage. Clark, with his writing partner Gordie Sampson, wrote this song in 2011. Released in 2013, a scant 13 months following Susanna Clark’s passing, it debuted at #12 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
When I saw this week’s theme is “car/cars“, my head exploded. My favorite group! How can I pick a Cars song? I decided not to and proceeded to waste too many hours searching for an alternative. No can do. Was about to throw in the towel and go with Cars, but then I realized that I’ve featured at least six Cars songs on my blog since May! Was debating what to do, when I had a brainstorm: Bruce Springsteen, singing one of my old favorites “Pink Cadillac!” That, of course, immediately prompted “Cadillac Ranch.” Have you noticed how indecisive I am? So you’re getting two fun songs written and performed by Bruce Springsteen.
“Pink Cadillac” was originally released in 1984 on the B side of his big hit “Dancing in the Dark.” It didn’t make it onto an album until 1998, when it was included on his outtake album, “Tracks.” Sing along:
Well now you may think I’m foolish
For the foolish things I do
You may wonder how come I love you
When you get on my nerves like you do
Well baby you know you bug me
There ain’t no secret ’bout that
Well come on over here and hug me
Baby I’ll spill the facts
Well honey it ain’t your money
‘Cause baby I got plenty of that
I love you for your pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what you do there in the back
Of your pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Well now way back in the Bible
Temptations always come along
There’s always somebody tempting
Somebody into doing something they know is wrong
Well they tempt you, man, with silver
And they tempt you, sir, with gold
And they tempt you with the pleasure
That the flesh does surely hold
They say Eve tempted Adam with an apple
But man I ain’t going for that
I know it was her pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what it feels like in the back
Of your pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Now some folks say it’s too big
And uses too much gas
Some folks say it’s too old
And that it goes too fast
But my love is bigger than a Honda
Yeah, it’s bigger than a Subaru
Hey man there’s only one thing
And one car that will do
Anyway we don’t have to drive it
Honey we can park it out in back
And have a party in your pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money on a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what you do there in the back
Of your pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Cadillac Ranch is a real place near Amarillo, Texas, where 10 cadillacs are buried nose-first. It’s art! (graffiti allowed) I’ve heard he visited but don’t know whether he had aleady written and released the song in 1980. This is a bouncy number with a serious theme: the inevitability of death. Dance to it anyway!
Well, there she sits buddy justa gleaming in the sun
There to greet a working man when his day is done
I’m gonna pack my pa and I’m gonna pack my aunt
I’m gonna take them down to the Cadillac Ranch
Eldorado fins, whitewalls and skirts
Rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth
Well buddy when I die throw my body in the back
And drive me to the junkyard in my Cadillac
Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Open up your engines let ’em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur
James Dean in that Mercury ’49
Junior Johnson runnin’ thru the woods of Caroline
Even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans-Am
All gonna meet down at the Cadillac Ranch
Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Open up them engines let ’em roar
Tearing up the highway just a big old dinosaur
Hey, little girlie in the blue jeans so tight
Drivin’ alone through the Wisconsin night
You’re my last love baby you’re my last chance
Don’t let ’em take me to the Cadillac Ranch
Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away
Written by Joe Milliken, 2018
J.E.M. Wildfire 