Cable drummer boy (updated and bumped)

(Note: I cannot claim to be a fan of Levon Helm's or The Band, in fact, I know very little about them. However I did write about him a while back for reasons, I hope, will be plain in the post. I thought it worth re-posting in light of the passing of Helm today. - Mike)

I'm sure most people with cable TV notice that there are all kinds of channels that broadcast programming of, shall we say, limited appeal. Some of them look like they were shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting. And they look that way because it was shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting.

For example, take this one program on Mediacom here in Springfield. It was shot in a nightclub and the focus of the program is the musical act that is performing there. More specifically, the subject seems to be this scraggly, old drummer with a gravelly voice who does all the lead singing. I watched it a for a few minutes and I thought, "Eh." They're probably some regional act that does all the hotspots in the college towns around here. And they probably drink up all their profits.

The things they show on TV.

And, it's interesting, in view of the discussion of popular music here at "The Porch" lately. Many of the acts that we admire would be old, gravelly and scraggly, like the drummer on this cable show. I heard a new Bob Seger song the other day and you can definitely hear some age in his voice.

Cousin Bob posted his list of favorite songs from 1973 and we've been having fun with it. He listed "Dancing In The Moonlight" by King Harvest and someone from that group was kind enough to reply and we got a kick out of that. Later, I posted in response and playfully asked Bob if his new friends, King Harvest, would explain how their name came about. Lo and behold! I got a reply from them! What generous and friendly people! It's an interesting story.

"In 1970 we made a last minute entry into a R&R contest in Paris, France. They asked for our band's name, which we had not yet decided on. On the stereo we had one of our favorite albums by The Band playing. The song was King Harvest Has Surely Come. So we gave them King Harvest as a name. As it turned out we won the contest and never changed the name. Two years later, still in Paris, we recorded Dancing in the Moonlight."

I think that is a cool story and it's a good band name. I think a lot of creativity is like this - it just happens, it's not forced.

So, in reading this reply, I had a thought. The record was by a group called The Band? That sort of rang a bell, so I did what any self-respecting person would do at this moment, I Googled. (I Google, therefore I am?)

I Googled "the band king harvest has come" and up came the typical Google page with lots links. At the top was a You Tube video of the song, so I clicked it and about 20 seconds later, I was floored.

The video opens with a shot of a cabin and the camera zooms in to look through the window. At about :20, I recognized someone. I recognized this bobbing head and the shrugging shoulders. I recognized the inelegant twisting neck so the singer could line up with a microphone.

It was the scraggly old drummer from the show on my local cable provider! Only he wasn't so old in this video! Amazing! You mean this guy on my local cable was SOMEBODY?

Quick! More Googling! I Googled The Band and got the Wikipedia page. (There is a sentence that would have been meaningless 10 years ago!) I saw a picture of The Band and their names. And I saw it! Levon Helm! He's the drummer for The Band and he's the drummer on my cable show! I remember seeing it when the credits rolled!

So, Levon Helm was the drummer for The Band and they recorded a song called King Harvest Has Come which inspired a nameless band in Paris to name themselves King Harvest and two years later they recorded "Dancing In The Moonlight" which my cousin listed as one of his favorite songs from 1973 on this blog and somebody from the band King Harvest replied to that and then I asked a question and they answered with a story about The Band and I looked it up and saw the drummer from my cable show was not a club guy but a real rock and roll pro, the drummer for The Band. Amazing.

Did I just win "Six Degrees of King Harvest"?

(Originally posted October, 2008)

Astronomy stuff, part 2: What's on Earth tonight?

This isn't what I'd planned to post for my second installment in the Astronomy stuff series, but I just came across this and I couldn't resist.

It has stars! It's a map! It ties into pop culture! It involves broadcasting! I suppose you could ask for more, but how much do you want in one place?


This is from a site I just discovered, called Strange Maps. If you go here, you'll see the image along with some comments below. As a couple of people noted, the power of TV broadcasts shrinks to next to nothing beyond our solar system. It might be possible to pick up one of our broadcasts on a planet around another star, but it would be exceedingly difficult and require Much patience.

Sure an interesting idea and a neat image, though.

Hey Mike, it might be fun to come up with a version based on the dates of famous baseball highlights.

Extra, extra! Read all about it! Batman sues Batman!

You just can't make up stuff like this.

There goes Robert E. Lee

I took the advice of my elders, cousin Bob and King Harvest, and watched the video of The Band playing "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" and, as they both said, it is a terrific performance.

I was one of those, as Bob mentioned, who was only familiar with the Joan Baez version. And it's fine in it's own right. In fact, as a young adolescent, I remember listening to that tune on KBHM-AM, Branson, Mo., and I liked it. Like Bob, I thought it odd that a woman was Virgil, a working man, however, I was content to let her to tell her story.

Bob quoted from Rolling Stone magazine which captured the spirit of the song: “Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does…It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity." This was much more evident in the version by The Band. It has a great feel to it, emotional heft.

Here's the video, if you have not already seen it.

One more musical note, totally unrelated to King Harvest. (Gee, I hope we're not keeping those guys from something important!) The song I most enjoy on my Yahoo radio station these days is "Aime" by Pure Prairie League. Those guitars are perfect and elegant, in a mountain music way. To play like that would be a delight!

If one played like that however, he must have a front porch - it's not even an option.

A Fine and Natural (web)Site

So, do you know my cousin? Bob Wingate? No? Well, he knows King Harvest. They're a band and they had a hit and my cousin knows them like, they're BFF!

Whoa, dude! Slow down! Take a breath.

Congratualations, Bob, on pulling down a Comment from "The Outside". Pretty soon you will be, like ZZ Top, Nationwide.

I like your list and your method. It's good to have limits in which to create - they focus your efforts.

You were fortunate to hear and know all these songs and I guess you had that radio job which beefed up your knowledge. For me, if it wasn't on KWTO Rock 99, I didn't know about it. Still don't.

Now, about your list -

Well, to begin with, you know I am HUGE for Rocky Mountain Way (I think it's #2 on my Arresting list) . It has that 'double tempo' thing going on - it sounds and feels fast, but it's going slow and measured. A lot of great music is like that, he said expertly.

You've got a couple of songs that make me tired. Ridin' The Storm Out, Roundabout, I'm Just A Singer, Free Bird, Dream On and Smoke On The Water. Alright then, that's more than a couple. In my mind these are great songs for a verse or two and then, I get tired, but the song is still pounding on my door. For me, I am looking for something else after a minute or two, but they're good songs.

Desperado by the Eagles - superb, simply superb. I could hear it over and over.

Jim Croce was one of my favorites, and if I recall correctly, wasn't '73 the year he died? I like all of his hits and many of his non-hits and I wonder what his career would have been like had he lived.

I am exactly where you are with ZZ Top's Jesus Just Left Chicago. It's a great sound, but I always feel like I shouldn't be hearing it.

Angie. I always liked Angie. What? No! The song! I don't know any Angies!

And you know how much I like Billy Joel's music. I have 'The Essential Billy Joel', a 2-disc collection and there is a string on the first disc from #7 New York State of Mind to #18 Allentown that every song is a winner and it's just a joy to listen to.

Now, can you get your good friends, King Harvest, to 'splain their name? I am sure I could Google it, but I prefer the personal touch.

Quick! What Would It Be?

My number one son came up the stairs this evening and asked me an important question. If you could have just one super power, what would it be?

Hmmmm.

Jacob decided that he would like to be able to fly, though, he had reservations about it. He thought he'd like something more effective in actually changing his surroundings.

What inspired the question is his newfound interest in the NBC program "Heroes".

Anyway, after brief deliberation, I decided I would want supersonic speed like Flash (pictured). As we all know, Batman is King, but he lacks any super powers. And of course, this is a large part of why he is King. I always liked Flash and having super speed is not a bad power at all, it's as good as flying in many ways.

So, Porch Heads, what would it be? Flying? Super Speed? Web-Spinning and Wall-Crawling?

And, not to be overlooked are Slipping Under Doors Like Jello and the Ability to Be Lint. These are options, as well.

Who needs a clock radio, anyway?

That was new…I woke up from a late afternoon nap by dreaming about two songs that suddenly started up. They were songs I like, “What a Bringdown” by Cream, and the first bit of “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” by ZZ Top. It was like I had a built in clock radio alarm.

I could do without that. Sure hope it doesn’t become a habit.

Speaking of songs, a couple of weeks ago, I started a list of songs that I would just start thinking about during the day, for no apparent reason. So far:

Paul McCartney / Wings: Medicine Jar
Tom Petty: Learning To Fly
Mott the Hoople: All the Way From Memphis
Al Stewart: Broadway Hotel
Buffalo Springfield: Bluebird
Neil Young: Cinnamon Girl
Rory Gallagher: The King Of Zydeco
The Police: Spirits In the Material World
Talking Heads: Once In a Lifetime
Alvin Lee / Ten Years After: I’m Going Home

Many of these I’ve already listed on my “favorite songs” project…still in progress. Over 425 entries…help, I’ve created a monster…must…edit…list…

If there’s a pattern to the above list, I’m not sure what it is (other than the Buffalo Springfield / Neil Young connection, and that three of the songs – Learning To Fly, All the Way From Memphis, and Spirits In the Material World – were catchy enough that I thought of them more than once).

It does remind me of the time back in the eighties a college friend, who was a radio DJ in another city, asked me to keep track of songs I heard on K.C. radio stations for a week. He had written down what he thought I’d be hearing. Best as I recall, he had a song or two written down that I did hear, but not on the same days. No ESP there, anyway.

The other thing my list shows, yes, I’m of the “baby boom” generation, and I’ve listened to a whole bunch of classic rock. My wife and I were talking this evening, and I admitted that I don’t have the foggiest idea of what music is out there these days (well, that’s not entirely true…I have watched a bit of American Idol). But I’m – happily – mostly out of touch with the current trends.

If it weren’t for homestarrunner.com and Strong Bad’s email’s, I wouldn’t have any contact with today’s pop culture. Those guys will keep us informed.