Like I need to tell you, even if there were no photo credit, this is a Justin Terveen photo -- one in a series of extraordinary photos of the rain-soaked city he's taken in the past 24 hours. This one was taken earlier this evening, just west of the Houston Street Viaduct: "dead-smack center in between Houston and 30," he says.
Justin's still out and about, making the city look stunning in the reflection of the Trinity River. He's moved to Sylvan now, then ... who knows where. "It's too good to pass up," he says. "The water's flat and glassy, with a nice reflection." More to come, he vows. "But nothing like what you see here." As always, the big'n is here, suitable for framing.
There are plenty more photos of the Rain Kings (this one's circa 1966) over on Chris Bishop's invaluable website.
A few weeks ago I spoke with Chris Bishop, otherwise known as the man behind the great website Garage Hangover, which recalls obscure '60s garage-rock bands so you don't have to. After afewvisits in recent months, I wondered: What fuels his interest, especially given the amount of Dallas bands that have appeared on the site?
"Well, first, the scene there was so great," said Bishop, who lives in upstate New York after a stint in Houston. He was a collector who became a devotee. "And when I'd get a record I'd find
more information and hope to tell a story, and if there was nothing out there I'd
post. I've tried to cover bands that haven't been covered in detail, which is
why I haven't covered the well-known acts. I figure if I can't add anything new to it, why bother."
Justin Terveen's already taken his place on the west side of the Continental Avenue Bridge for tonight's lighting of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, set to begin glowing at 6:15, give or take. He says it's filling up fast, no joke. I'm about to head that way myself; why not. But before I split, this big, bad bit of breaking news: For the first time ever -- by which I mean, since being rediscovered by Noel Waggener and his Heavy Light Records label out of Austin -- The Relatives will be playing their hometown, at the Bridge-O-Rama wingding set for the Calatrava's opening weekend. Rev. Gene and the band will perform March 3, specifically, at 5 p.m. on the Ben E. Keith Stage, which will be located at 317 Singleton Ave. For this you have to thank, in part, our old pal Jeff Liles of the Kessler, one of the event's myriad partners for the shindig.
And they're not the only band lined up for the event: Says the release just dispatched by the West Dallasites in advance of tonight's formal announcement, Possessed by Paul James and Rattletree Marimba will also play the World Music Stage that Saturday. The music portion of the program begins at 1 that day, and, says the release, "Additional acts will be announced as they become confirmed over the next few weeks." I'll let Audra tackle those on DC9 -- because, ya know, she's the one who wrote the first, best and longest piece on The Relatives back when she was at the Austin Chronicle. I expect she's itching to do a follow-up.
Till then, you have heard The Relatives' record, right? No? Here, lemme fix that for you.
Update: Lyle Lovett will play the March 2 opening-weekend fund-raiser.
Of all the many Cafe Noir photos in our still-very-physical photo archives, this is the one most worth sharing -- a very, very early-days look at the band with Gale Hess
Many have asked since yesterday if there will be a memorial of some kind for Gale Hess. Today I was told: No, not yet. There will be a small service for family and close friends, and there may be something else down the road. But, I was told, it will be at least a month away. Said a family member, the Cafe Noir violinist and composer did not want to be mourned; instead, she requested a celebration, but, for now, it will have to wait.
Until then, I would like to honor some other requests: Several Friends of Unfair Park, and old friends, have asked for some of the rare and unreleased Cafe Noir tracks mentioned in yesterday's post. Those I can provide you. The first features the band with another special someone whose loss (has it really been 15 years?) is still profoundly felt: Ed Hagen, whose visage graced the cover of Cafe Noir's The Waltz King. It was produced for KERA 90.1 Sound Sessions by Josh Alan.
"Flight of the Lark" is something recorded on a UCLA stage in 1998 but never released, something heard only as a snippet in the sampler posted yesterday. And it's the song that morphs into "Kashmir," the result of Gale's stint with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page at Reunion Arena in the spring of 1995. As Norbert Gerl told me yesterday, "Gale and I came to rock and roll late," but when they fell, they fell hard.
And, finally, there is something from our first Observer compilation. I asked Gerl way back in '96 if he had something unreleased he could offer. He said there was but one song sitting in the vaults, something he didn't know what to do with: a cover of Tioga, Texas's own Gene Autry's "Back in the Saddle Again," with the great Randy Erwin on vocals. Feel free to download the latter; I want you to keep it.More >>
Word began to spread late last night: Gale Hess, said friends, died two days ago. Cancer is to blame, say those who've been close in recent years. Gale was young -- young enough to have been first violinist in the W.T. White Symphony Orchestra in 1973, at least. And she was among the most talented musicians ever to come from here; all those who got to hear her play with Cafe Noir or at the Dream Cafe with the Gyros String Quartet or at the Old Warsaw all by her striking lonesome or on Randy Erwin's Cowboy Stomp in 1988 or Josh Alan's The Worst! in '94 or with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page at Reunion Arena in March 1995 can attest to this. The sampler above and continued below, shot by Mark Trew when the band took to a UCLA stage for a live recording in 1998, only shows off a fraction of a fraction of her range -- classical to classic rock, honky-tonk to hepcat all in the time it takes most people to exhale.
Cafe Noir's line-up for Window to the Sea, from left: Gale Hess, Lyles West, Randy Erwin, Jason Bucklin and Norbert Gerl
Friends use words like "sweet," "supportive," "influential" and "brilliant" to describe the violinist and composer. I was fortunate enough to write -- frequently -- about Cafe Noir during my tenure as music editor in the early to mid-'90s. Cafe Noir, assembled by Hess and guitar virtuoso Norbert Gerl in 1985 after years of friendship, won countless Music Awards and played several award shows -- each one, our honor. The ensemble also provided the first track on our first rare-tracks compilation CD, back in 1996: a swinging iteration of "Back in the Saddle."
The band released only a handful of records -- 1988's eponymous debut, '93's Window to the Sea (from which this is taken), the farewell The Waltz King a year later -- all on Carpe Diem, all out of print. They were oft-haunting, occasionally jaunty, sometimes mysterious sound tracks to smoke-filled movies in which you wish you'd starred, foreign affairs with a twang. Each was anchored by Gale, Stéphane Grappelli by way of Bob Wills but so clearly meant for the arena. (When Gerl told her of the Page-Plant gig, Gale, who served as principal viola, was initially leery, I recall -- or maybe just nervous. I told her it was the coolest thing ever. She replied as though she didn't believe it: "Is it?" Or perhaps she just didn't buy it.)
Cafe Noir played Deep Ellum when it was a loose-knit "scene" consisting of bands in varying stages of being signed or dropped by what used to pass for major labels. Somehow, though, Cafe Noir fit in amongst the electricity and noise, filling Chumley's regularly with silent, spellbound audiences.
Of late Gale had been playing with Cirque du Soleil; a reviewer in 2007 called her "a stunning violinist," an understatement. I was a fan, as you can see, but also a friend for a long while, long ago. Only last week, while cleaning out some bookshelves, I came across a copy of a book she gave me on my 25th birthday -- Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, a dizzying thing, much like Gale. She wrote inside: "I hope this book brings you as much pleasure as it has me." She would have turned 57 on February 22. A memorial service is in the works for a later date.More >>
Several Friends of Unfair Park have already requested one song for next year's Christmas special on K-Ticket: Tiger Darrow and Paul Slavens's "Santa Claus is Coming," which, per the note affixed to the Soundcloud, was finished just in time for his arrival in the wee small hours of Christmas morning. Writes Slavens: "Tiger called me about a week ago and said. 'Let's do a Christmas song together.' After a lot of feverish work I finished it at 1:30 am Christmas morning." So, see, right on time -- and, besides, it's hardly a conventional Christmas song, but, say, a transitional tune perfect for The Week In Between Holidays. Besides, it afford us room for this timely note: Darrow and Emily Elbert play the Kessler tomorrow. So, see, it's still a happy holiday.
King at KZEW's Armadillo Festival at Fair Park on April 27, 1975
I hear jingle bells: Freddie King's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Per this morning's heads-up from Cleveland, the Gilmer-born guitarist, singer and songwriter is this year's entry in the Early Influence category; damn right. His newly penned Hall bio lists the myriad reasons -- for starters, "His '60s classics, 'Have You Ever Loved A Woman,' 'Hide Away,' 'You've Got To Love Her With A Feeling' and 'The Stumble' are part of the DNA of modern electric blues" -- and, as noted before, he's the man who walked the guitar from T-Bone Walker to Stevie and Jimmie Vaughan. He brought the blues into the future. Just ask Eric Clapton.
That March 31, 1975, KZEW performance to which I linked in the summer of 2010 is gone, but not gone; it's just over here now, a vibrant, visceral blast of blues straight out of January Sound Studio with a set list that could have been carved on a stone tablet ("Big Legged Woman," "Have You Ever Loved a Woman," "Woman Across the River," "Hide Away," "Come On (Part III)"). I listen to it several times a week; it's as timeless as The Texas Cannonball, who's now, at long last, enshrined and immortalized amongst giants who built their careers on his echoes.
Another essential King recording: Live at The Electric Ballroom, said to contain the only known acoustic King performances. First issued by Black Top Records in '95, you can also hear King talk about his life and music with the great Jon Dillon, a discovery from The Wayback Machine. In that album's liner notes, Freddie's daughter Wanda -- who, as I wrote back in '98, has spent decades fiercely protecting her father's music and legacy -- notes his influences, among them Porter Wagoner. "He just loved music. It didn't matter if it was blues, R&B, opera, pop or gospel," she wrote. "He gave blues a modern twist."
Come December 28, King will have been dead exactly 35 years: The stress of nonstop touring, and all that accompanies the lifestyle, devoured the great man at the young age of 42; he died of bleeding ulcers and pancreatitis at Presbyterian Hospital. He's buried at Sparkman/Hillcrest on Northwest Highway. Stop by when you have the chance. Congratulate him. He's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The program for this year's event, the theme of which is "Disruption," can be found here; keep in mind, though, it has session times, but not a list of who's participating in which session (wait for it ... wait for it ...). And the list of this year's participants is especially familiar: Among those taking part are Hockaday's own Lisa Loeb, Lord Vishnu's master Will Clarke and Dallas CityDesign Studio bossman Brent Brown, in addition to the likes of Meadows School of the Arts dean José Bowen, filmmaker Elise Ballard, water-saver Jeff Fulgham, artist Jaume Plensa (maker of the giant head) and dancer Bruce Wood.
Concerning this year's theme, TEDxSMU director Sharon Lyle tells Unfair Park today: "It really means nothing when we come up with it, and the speakers help shape what it means. This one in particular has been interesting, because when we say it's disruption, they think it's so negative, and the initial impression is: Why would you pick something like this? But it's this universal conversation I've had about 100 times now, and the speakers come around to a place where disruptive events can be bad, they can be good or whatever, but without them we would have stagnated a long time ago. It's a necessary catalyst for change, so that's where most of the speaker have taken it."
Lyle was also kind enough to provide this something-special for the Friends of Unfair Park who may want to peek in on the proceedings: the list of participants for each session, which you won't find anywhere else. Plan accordingly.More >>
Didn't know anything about them till a couple of days ago, when someone posted to YouTube the band's "I Feel The Same" -- which, turns out, is among just four songs the band recorded in '65. And all of them remained unreleased till just a few weeks ago, when Garage Hangover's Chas Kit found ex-wife of rhythm guitarist Tommy Fonseca, who lives in Mesquite and who let him post the acetates cut at the late, great landmark Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios. And they didn't cut 'em with just anyone, I discovered after making a few calls this afternoon.More >>
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