Captain Beefheart: Few Words In His Memory

In memory of Don Van Vliet better known as Captain Beefheart who died on the 17th December 2010 aged 69.

He certainly was one of the great original geniuses of popular music of the 20th Century. With his gritty and growling voice and his fusion of blues, jazz and psychedelia  he carved out sound that was uniquely his.

" His work, whether in music or drawing, was never mainstream and only ever gained a relatively small following, but he was a larger-than-life character who pushed the boundaries of his art in a way which influenced many who followed in his wake "

quoted from  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11811289

Other Links

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12024652

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/captain-beefheart-dead-at-age-69-20101217

Gerry Rafferty The Musician, Songwriter and Singer Dies Today

Gerald Rafferty The Musician, Songwriter and Singer Is No More.  He died earlier today of  liver failure after a long illness.  


Goodbye Gerry, your music gave me a lot of pleasure over the years   http://bit.ly/dQSk9J

"Gerald "Gerry" Rafferty (16 April 1947 – 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer and songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street" and "Right Down the Line", and "Stuck in the Middle" with the band Stealers Wheel."

It was publicly known that Rafferty was battling with alcoholism.^[11] In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Bournemouth, Dorset, suffering from liver failure. He died at home on 4 January 2011, of liver disease.^[19] He is survived by his daughter, Martha.^[20]

The irony of the success of "Baker Street" was that the lyrics reflected Rafferty’s disenchantment with certain elements of the music industry. This was elaborated by music journalist Paul Gambaccini for BBC World News:^[11]

“

His song "Baker Street" was about how uncomfortable he felt in the star system, and what do you know, it was a giant world hit. The album City to City went to no. 1 in America, and suddenly he found that as a result of his protest, he was a bigger star than ever. And he now had more of what he didn’t like. And although he had a few more hit singles in the United States, by 1980 it was basically all over, and when I say ‘it’, I mean basically his career, because he just was not comfortable with this.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Rafferty



"Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street provided a welcome relief from the wall-to-wall disco that dominated the UK charts in the late 1970s."  .....   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11728112

The How And The Why On Music !

A fascinating book on the how and the why of music and why it is so important to human beings.

  "All human cultures seem to make music - today and through history. But why they do so, why music can excite deep passions, and how we make sense of musical sound at all are questions that have, until recently, remained profoundly mysterious."  ....... MORE

Snippets of Some Rambling Reflections - Part 1

You get what you give and you give what you get. !

Although verbal communication ie speaking and writing is important, the non-verbal aspect of communication should not be under estimated.

"Some studies show 60 per cent of any dialogue is made through nonverbal means – such as gestures, posture ......."   MORE   

All verbal communication is affected by the non-verbal communication that accompanies it. Face to face, expression  ......."   MORE 
 
If people spoke less and listen more perhaps we would have a better world ! ! !  .....  MORE  

If no one speaks there would be no need to listen. Perhaps human beings might then regain the art of telepathy !   Well it is just a thought !

"Communication was an important component of life in the ancient world, and could be divided up into three ....."   MORE    

  "According to some studies, communication between people is more that 50 percent nonverbal. That being the case ....."  MORE    

"Some studies show 60 per cent of any dialogue is made through non-verbal means – such as gestures, posture ......."    MORE         

"Colour is so deeply imbedded in our psyche that it's like the air that we breath… we don't notice the power, ...."    MORE      

 "Colours, like people have different personalities and these are perhaps the reason why we are attracted to ........ ."    MORE      

 "Everyone likes to imagine they are rational, fair, and free from prejudice. But how easily are we   misled by ...."     MORE     

............................    too be continued    ...........................

A Perspective of Colour and Its Role In Human Communication

Colour affects us all in subtle and more noticeable ways during the course of our daily lives, here are some links which expand on this further.

"Colours, like people have different personalities and these are perhaps the reason why we are attracted to ......." MORE

"Colour is so deeply imbedded in our psyche that it's like the air that we breath… we don't notice the power, ...." MORE

Can There Really Be A Colour And Music Relationship ?

 “The relationship of colour and music has inspired philosophical and creative discovery throughout the ages. ....."  MORE

Musical  Color Experiences

 “The experiences of color and music have always been closely intertwined. ......."  MORE

The Great Color Music Debate.   Painting music by colors is a subject which has occupied many a great mind down the centuries. The pondering goes along these lines. When one hears a particular musical sound one is drawn to a particular color or a particular sound is associated with a particular color or a color with a sound. Whether this is only a subjective experience on the part of the listener or whether we can draw a wider correlation between certain musical sounds and certain colors is open to debate. .........  MORE

Check out:  Color Codes: Modern Theories of Color in Philosophy, Painting and Architecture, Literature, Music and Psychology. by Charles A. Riley (Paperback)   …..  MORE

The author thinks that by trying to understand our own and other people’s ‘personality color’ it would help us to communicate with others better.

“Each one of us has one of four personality colors that dominate the way we behave and communicate  ......" MORE

What Says Jimi ?

On the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix death Tom Robinson in this radio programme takes a look at  Hendrix's political  position during the late 1960's .

Along with Tom Robinson, this programme also features contributions from Eric Burton, Robert Wyatt, Hendrix's younger brother Leon Hendrix, Black Panther Party members of the period Aaron and Elmer Dixon and comments from the author Charles Sharr Murray.

"The programme culminates with Jimi's Woodstock Festival performance of 'The Star Spangled Banner', an eloquent (and wordless) statement against the Vietnam war......"  MORE

Those Musical Feelings That We Have

I suppose you do not need to be a neuroscientist to know the power of music and the physical and psychological effects it can have on human beings.  Nevertheless, it is good to know anyway that neuroscientists of this interesting study have taken the time and effort to confirm and explain why we feel these ‘physical and psychological effects’

Over the past decade or so, studies have shown that music stimulates numerous regions of the brain all at once, including those responsible for emotion, memory, motor control, timing and language. MORE