How do you see yourself? How do you define yourself? How much do you let others define who you are?
All good questions, worthy of discussion in Philosophy 101, I guess. You could also use the prisms of religion and psychology as well.
I ponder some of this in the archived featured post today called ‘Who Am I.’
In my Now Playing section of this weekly column, I have a stack of 13 records I’m rotating through for near future posts. Ten of those are Kinks records. The Kinks made a big impression on me as soon as I began exploring rock music outside the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who. This would have been the 1970s and 80s.
The Kinks were quirky as a band with that name should be. They were musical but played with wild passion, in other words sometimes they were garage band-like. They were literate and silly. I can go on, and I will in a future MVC post.
Now as for the other three records, that’s a secret for now as I listen to the three records to become more familiar with this latest output. The artist is a singer-songwriter and one of my favorite all time artists. I discovered him in the post-vinyl age that was the 1990s and have a lot of his work on CDs.
He’s knows about my health and did something very nice. Can’t wait to share.
Speaking of sharing, I appreciate Kerri Kasem interviewing me for a podcast that is now on her website.
Go listen to it. Its me talking, for heaven’s sake.
Rounding out the column, I have archived record reviews as I count down my 678 vinyl records I have collected since about age 12 through about age 30 when CDs came to be. Today we have Randall Bramblett, Blue Oyster Cult and the Broken Homes.
ARCHIVES: (Post from Nov. 26, 2017)
Who am I?
This is a philosophical question.
In song, The Who asked ‘Who are You’? Black Uhuru asked ‘What is Life’? Frank Zappa said, ‘Help I’m a rock.’
Some of you have pondered this question, I’m sure. Others think it is silly because it has no set answer.
As some of you know, I have Lewy Body dementia. My brain neurons are dying, being killed over time by excess proteins. There is no known cure and its cause is unknown. But it’s the second leading cause of dementia after Alzheimer’s.
So the question for me is pertinent .
As I have written earlier I am literally, albeit slowly, losing my mind. Does that mean every day I am a little less of myself? Or that I am myself at all?
What if my perception of myself is widely different from what others see. It could be a horror movie: ‘Invasion of the Alpha-synuclein Proteins.’
Justin Caouette posting on the blog A Philosopher’s Take, asks if we rip a page out of a book, is it the same book? How about a chapter? How about if you blot every word out with Wite-Out?
Philosopher David “Hume says that all that “we” are is a bundle of perceptions at any given reference point,.
“The ‘self’ for Hume, when perceived as something fixed through time, is an illusion. Strict identity claims are simply false when talking about ourselves as persisting through time. The bundle of perceptions changes with each experience, therefore, there is no one enduring ‘self’ that persists through each experience.”
So minute by minute we change. But is he saying we are not who we are two minutes earlier? Yes and no. I think.
Archived reviews, click on artist name in title for more in-depth takes”
Randall Bramblett
ALBUM: That Other Mile (1974)
MVC Rating: 4.5/$$$$
I started counting the musicians credited on this album and got to about 15 before giving up.
But listen to this bluesy, jazzy minor masterpiece and everything fits. Sax, bass, drums, wah- wah guitar, steel guitar, steel drums, keyboards, congas – you can tell there’s a lot of music going here, but it plays to a whole; every note counts. The players give each other space and let the music breathe.
I was once decades ago offered $40 for this album. I think it is not so easy to find this one, his first. As you can see, I still have it. I didn’t sell.
The Brains
ALBUMS: The Brains (1980), Electronic Eden (1981)
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$; EE: 3.5/$$$
Sometimes there’s a musical memory that is stronger than other memories. It starts in your mind but begins infusing the limbic system. It’s a mind out of body memory.
It was a night in Atlanta about 1980, could have been ’81. I was with my later to be wife Catherine, my brother and his friends. We were walking up to the party central area at that time, Little Five Points. I first heard the synthesizer. As we got closer it got louder.
There was the chorus: Money Changes Everything …
Broken Homes
ALBUM: Broken Homes (1986)
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$
Here’s one. Here’s one if you want to be cool and pull out of your collection this album featuring this very 80’s looking band wearing dark clothes with some leather. Kinda big hair.
You’re friend says ‘ha ha’ who is that? Just another band gone to obscuredom. But hey, let’s give it a spin.
Let’s give it a spin.
Broken Homes. Not sure what happened to them, probably obscurification. But they rock like they had a future and didn’t care if they did. Tuneful, good vocals, tight band. One of those best bands you’ve never heard of.
”I’ll Be Wearing Blue’ lays out a bluesy lament of a reluctant groom.
“Soon we will be married,” he sings, “Soon we will be done, soon we will drive to town, and we’ll pick out the perfect suit and tie. Your mama’s going to give me the money, I hope I cannot find my size.”