So what'a ya think of Imelda May? She's been doin' some really good stuff with Beck lately, especially the Les Paul/Mary Ford songs, particularly "How High the Moon".
I saw them together on Leno a month or two ago. She was fine, but I was mostly watching JB.
I was never a Tom Jones fan, but this bluesy stuff he's been doing the past couple of years has been great. Beck's been working with everyone lately. I think he and Jones both are actually getting better with age.
I can't find it anymore, but there was a great video by a car magazine on the net last year that featured an interview with Beck at his house where he showed all his hot-rods and his work space. They also talked to his wife for a bit and showed some of her artwork. I wish I would have copied that video.
Just a theory but it seems to me that Beck is trying to create a bridge to the past before he dies or retires. It almost seems as though he's trying to leave an audible record of the roots of rock because, honestly, listening to most of what passes for rock today, the connections between the past and present have been severed and the music has suffered for it.
And he does have one hell of a car collection, doesn't he?
My first was a '65...Volvo. And a station wagon to boot. I quickly recovered though and made up for lost time with a '71...Gremlin.
I only had a couple cool cars in my life, mostly because I never wanted to spend the money to build 'em and keep 'em running. Spent enough time working on my gear head buddy's cars to cure me of that.
Best I had was a '74 Datsun 260Z - bought it in '78. Most fun car I ever had was a Baja Bug I built and wrecked repeatedly. Open headers with a stinger, mostly Porsche engine, Weber carbs and competition everything. Monster ground clearance, killer off road performance and real happy to jerk the wheels up in the air every time a Chevelle wanted to race.
But that car just proved my thesis- I didn't have the money to keep playing that game!
But, I gotta say it was fun watching my wife Kathy, back when we were kids, trying to learn to drive a stick shift in a car that had a throttle and clutch that were basically just on/off switches.
Spaking of Porsche, I don't know if you remember the very first helicopter traffic reporter back in the 70s, but it was Kay Lindbergh--"The Jet Copter Girl". She sells real estate now. I run into her once in a great while. Her husband has an old Porsche that's been sitting out in the woods by their house for years that he keeps saying he's gonna fix up some day. Me and Kay know he ain't never gonna do it, but he won't sell for anything.
My only vehicles these days are a 14 year old Ram with a rusty rear bumper and an even older Dakota I inherited from my pop last year that I keep for a backup. About half the paint is gone from it it. I guess my hot rod days are done too. Who can afford it now? My first car cost $300 used. You could buy a brand new Pinto for $3000 back then. Parts were cheap and plentiful. Times have changed.
Drive an old Ram myself, a 2500 diesel. Hoping that it'll last the rest of my life. My wife has a '99 Jeep Cherokee Sport with almost 250,000 miles on it, possibly the only vehicle left that I can actually work on myself, which is a good thing because she drives it 100 miles a day back and forth to work. Gotta love that old, cast iron, simple WWII American technology.
I'm planning on making this RAM last forever too. I purposely looked for a WT model with no bells and whistles like power windows etc. because it's just more stuff to go wrong. The body is still just about perfect except for that bumper, and I can always rebuild the motor when this one poops out. I've got the V6 Magnum that they usually put in Dakotas. It gets around 16/20 MPG and is still powerful enough to pull just about anything short of a horse trailer.
Tell Kathy I had two Jeeps prior to the RAM. The first was a 86 Classic Cherokee. I put 318,000 on it, and it was still running good when I sold it, but the rings were shot, so it was drinking oil. Then I Had a 89 Comanche Pioneer pickup that I put around 250k on till the ball joints were trashed and the rings were gone, so it drank oil too, but you gotta expect that with so many miles. I hated working on those jeeps though because there was so little room under the hood, and I worked on them constantly. The fuel injectors had square seals that never wanted to seat properly on that truck (in-line 6). And the Cherokee had a plastic radiator overfill tank, but there was no cap on the radiator itself. So you put all your radiator fluid in by way of the overfill tank. Since it didn't have a radiator cap, whenever that Jeep overheated it would blow a hole right through that plastic fill tank, which cost around $50, and I replaced five I think. There was a relief valve on those tanks, but not one of them ever worked. And if the tank didn't blow a hole, chances are it still got so hot that either the plastic cap or the threads on the tank would get warped, so you still had to replace it or hot fluid would spray out under of the cap.
I tell everybody, Jeeps last forever, but you've got to work on them everyday!
So what'a ya think of Imelda May? She's been doin' some really good stuff with Beck lately, especially the Les Paul/Mary Ford songs, particularly "How High the Moon".
ReplyDeleteBut really, how can you go wrong with Beck?
I saw them together on Leno a month or two ago. She was fine, but I was mostly watching JB.
ReplyDeleteI was never a Tom Jones fan, but this bluesy stuff he's been doing the past couple of years has been great. Beck's been working with everyone lately. I think he and Jones both are actually getting better with age.
I can't find it anymore, but there was a great video by a car magazine on the net last year that featured an interview with Beck at his house where he showed all his hot-rods and his work space. They also talked to his wife for a bit and showed some of her artwork. I wish I would have copied that video.
Just a theory but it seems to me that Beck is trying to create a bridge to the past before he dies or retires. It almost seems as though he's trying to leave an audible record of the roots of rock because, honestly, listening to most of what passes for rock today, the connections between the past and present have been severed and the music has suffered for it.
ReplyDeleteAnd he does have one hell of a car collection, doesn't he?
I agree with all that. And my first car was a 67 GTX with a 383 4-pack. I like his cars almost better than his music.
ReplyDeleteMy first was a '65...Volvo. And a station wagon to boot. I quickly recovered though and made up for lost time with a '71...Gremlin.
ReplyDeleteI only had a couple cool cars in my life, mostly because I never wanted to spend the money to build 'em and keep 'em running. Spent enough time working on my gear head buddy's cars to cure me of that.
Best I had was a '74 Datsun 260Z - bought it in '78. Most fun car I ever had was a Baja Bug I built and wrecked repeatedly. Open headers with a stinger, mostly Porsche engine, Weber carbs and competition everything. Monster ground clearance, killer off road performance and real happy to jerk the wheels up in the air every time a Chevelle wanted to race.
But that car just proved my thesis- I didn't have the money to keep playing that game!
But, I gotta say it was fun watching my wife Kathy, back when we were kids, trying to learn to drive a stick shift in a car that had a throttle and clutch that were basically just on/off switches.
Spaking of Porsche, I don't know if you remember the very first helicopter traffic reporter back in the 70s, but it was Kay Lindbergh--"The Jet Copter Girl". She sells real estate now. I run into her once in a great while. Her husband has an old Porsche that's been sitting out in the woods by their house for years that he keeps saying he's gonna fix up some day. Me and Kay know he ain't never gonna do it, but he won't sell for anything.
ReplyDeleteMy only vehicles these days are a 14 year old Ram with a rusty rear bumper and an even older Dakota I inherited from my pop last year that I keep for a backup. About half the paint is gone from it it. I guess my hot rod days are done too. Who can afford it now? My first car cost $300 used. You could buy a brand new Pinto for $3000 back then. Parts were cheap and plentiful. Times have changed.
Drive an old Ram myself, a 2500 diesel. Hoping that it'll last the rest of my life. My wife has a '99 Jeep Cherokee Sport with almost 250,000 miles on it, possibly the only vehicle left that I can actually work on myself, which is a good thing because she drives it 100 miles a day back and forth to work. Gotta love that old, cast iron, simple WWII American technology.
ReplyDeleteWhy did we ever change it?
I'm planning on making this RAM last forever too. I purposely looked for a WT model with no bells and whistles like power windows etc. because it's just more stuff to go wrong. The body is still just about perfect except for that bumper, and I can always rebuild the motor when this one poops out. I've got the V6 Magnum that they usually put in Dakotas. It gets around 16/20 MPG and is still powerful enough to pull just about anything short of a horse trailer.
ReplyDeleteTell Kathy I had two Jeeps prior to the RAM. The first was a 86 Classic Cherokee. I put 318,000 on it, and it was still running good when I sold it, but the rings were shot, so it was drinking oil. Then I Had a 89 Comanche Pioneer pickup that I put around 250k on till the ball joints were trashed and the rings were gone, so it drank oil too, but you gotta expect that with so many miles. I hated working on those jeeps though because there was so little room under the hood, and I worked on them constantly. The fuel injectors had square seals that never wanted to seat properly on that truck (in-line 6). And the Cherokee had a plastic radiator overfill tank, but there was no cap on the radiator itself. So you put all your radiator fluid in by way of the overfill tank. Since it didn't have a radiator cap, whenever that Jeep overheated it would blow a hole right through that plastic fill tank, which cost around $50, and I replaced five I think. There was a relief valve on those tanks, but not one of them ever worked. And if the tank didn't blow a hole, chances are it still got so hot that either the plastic cap or the threads on the tank would get warped, so you still had to replace it or hot fluid would spray out under of the cap.
I tell everybody, Jeeps last forever, but you've got to work on them everyday!