Blog Archives
Music on Mondays — Junior Seau, Bob Welch, and me
At the time I disappeared — that’s the correct word — from College Station, Texas, in April 1993, I owned over 5,000 vinyl records and over 1,000 CDs. About 100 CDs accompanied my disappearance in my highly customized 1989 Ford Mustang GT — Beatles, Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Simon & Garfunkel, Doobie Brothers, Bread, Queen, Fleetwood Mac — music to which I could sing along as I was driving down the highway.
I didn’t know where my trip would end but I knew how it would end — at least I thought I did — in suicide. I left College Station on April 15, 1993, and drove north with the intent on ending my life in Canada. I was too patriotic to do it in the United States. Weird and sick, I know. Sick, mostly. How I wound up in San Diego — alive! — is a story for another time.
This past month we here in San Diego have had to deal with the suicide of a popular and successful former professional football player, Junior Seau — 10-time All-Pro, 12-time Pro Bowl selection, and named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. Suicide? And no friend or family had any clues? Probably not. I wasn’t leaving clues either.
Earlier this month, Bob Welch committed suicide. Welch was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1971-1974. Shortly after Welch left Fleetwood Mac, the group rocketed to international supergroup status with the 1975 release of “Fleetwood Mac.”
I want to share two songs in today’s Music on Mondays from the Music Chronicles of Russel Ray. The first is “Ebony Eyes” from 1977, Welch’s most successful hit after he left Fleetwood Mac. The second is “Sentimental Lady,” a 1972 hit for Fleetwood Mac that was written by Bob Welch. The last is “Don’t Try Suicide,” a song off of Queen’s 1980 album “The Game.” Seems like life is, indeed, a game, but don’t try suicide. If you’re reading this and having thoughts about ending it all, find a way to call me or email me. I’ve been there. I’m not a professional counselor but at least give me a chance to help you first…………
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Right here in urban San Diego….
Friends back in my native Texas, in the East Texas Piney Woods, experienced a 4.3 earthquake a few days ago. They were rockin’ ‘n’ rollin’, and there were no Beatles involved. I read reports of fallen pictures and things knocked from shelves. Out here, of course, most of us would never suffer that kind of damage from a 4.3 earthquake. Pictures are hung with earthquake hangars and things we don’t want knocked from shelves in minor earthquakes are appropriately attached to the shelves with earthquake goop or earthquake tape.
I have always been fascinated by earthquake faults. I wrote my first term paper on earthquakes in 1969. I was 13 and wrote it for a customer of my typing/research enterprise. He was a sophomore at Texas A&I University, and he (I) got a B+ on that paper!
Television documentaries showing a helicopter flying over a fault zone, usually the San Andreas Fault somewhere in remote California, would enthrall me.
Right here in urban San Diego is the Rose Canyon Fault:
Seismic experts say the Rose Canyon Fault has the potential to unleash a 7.5 earthquake. As you can see on the map, the Rose Canyon Fault goes right underneath downtown San Diego. When that 7.5 earthquake happens, I’m sure it will be considered “the big one” as far as San Diegans are concerned.
If you know where to go, you can actually see the Rose Canyon Fault on the ground surface.
Using the descriptions in the picture above, here is the “50 million year old Eocene sandstone of the Scripps Formation”:
Notice the houses, too, built right on top of that sandstone formation. Their foundation pillars probably go pretty deep.
On the other side of the canyon is the “half-million year old Pleistocene conglomerate,” which the pine trees seem to like.
In between the two formations is “a major strand of the Rose Canyon Fault”:
Considering the location of the baseball field, I guess it was built by some parents with unruly children.
Specific location:
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County? I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor with Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re just looking for a home inspector,
I can highly recommend Russel Ray; that’s me!
Music on Mondays — #2: Who knows where the road may lead us, who knows if we’ll meet along the way
#2
Who knows where the road may lead us,
who knows if we’ll meet along the way
See my initial post about Music on Mondays from the Music Chronicles of Russel Ray.
I love virtually anything that incorporates history into it, such as books in the historical fiction category — Stephen King’s new novel 11/23/60 comes immediately to mind.
I don’t think there’s a similar category in music, but many songs mention places and events. One that always intrigued me is La Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia is a Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Spain. Construction was begun in 1882 and is not yet complete. The renowned architect Antoni Gaudi became involved in 1883 and its architecture is mostly of his doing.
The song is by The Alan Parsons Project, one of my Top 10 groups of all time, from their 1987 album Gaudi. It’s along song at 8:50, so sit back and relax. Hope you enjoy it.
The words:
Who knows where the road may lead us, only the fool would say
Who knows if we’ll meet along the way
Follow the brightest star as far as the brave may dare
What will we find when we get there
La Sagrada Familia we pray the storm will soon be over
La Sagrada Familia for the lion and the lamb
Who knows where the winds may blow us, only a fool would say
Who knows if we’ll ever reach the shore
Follow a rising sun with eyes that may only stare
What kind of fire will burn us there?
What kind of fire? Only a fool would say
La Sagrada Familia the wind has changed the storm is over
La Sagrada Familia for the lion and the lamb
La Sagrada Familia we thank the Lord the danger’s over
La Sagrada Familia there’s peace throughout the land
Under clear blue skies our voices rise in songs of glory
And for all those years our eyes and ears were filled with tears
Who knows where the world may turn us, only a fool would say
Who knows what the fate may have in store
Follow the light of truth as far as our eyes can see
How should we knows where that may be? How should we know?
Then the angry skies, the battle cries, the sounds of glory
And for all those years out eyes and ears were filled with tears
Who knows where the road may lead us, only a fool would say
Who knows what’s been lost along the way
Look for the promised land in all of the dreams we share
How will we know when we are there?
How will we know? Only a fool would say
La Sagrada Familia the war is won the battle’s over
La Sagrada Familia for the lion and the lamb
La Sagrada Familia we thank the lord the danger’s over
La Sagrada Familia behold the mighty hand
La Sagrada Familia the night is gone the waiting’s over
La Sagrada Familia there’s peace throughout the land
Until the next time
Until the next time
La Sagrada Familia
See pictures of Sagrada Familia.
Music on Mondays — #1: Get back, Jo Jo!
#1
Get back, Jo Jo!
See my initial post about Music on Mondays from the Music Chronicles of Russel Ray.
Today is the 43rd anniversary of The Beatle’s unannounced rooftop concert in London.
The Beatles have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When my parents put me in an adoption home in Ogden, Utah — the Thomas D. Dee Memorial Hospital — in 1965, I met an 18-year-old woman from Bakersfield, California. She introduced me to The Beatles. The rest is history.
In 1970 one of my favorite songs was Get Back. I was constantly humming or singing it in classes and around the school. People started calling me Jo Jo.
As I look back on life, I could easily change just six words in the song and have it easily be about me:
Russel was a man who knew he was a loner, but he knew it couldn’t last.
Russel left his home in College Station, Texas, for some California grass.
The Beatles have been like that throughout my life. When I cried, they cried — In My Life, Michelle, I’m So Tired…. On my birthday, Birthday. So many more Beatles songs bring back so many memories — Help!, Hey Jude (my first date), Ticket to Ride (dad and granddad worked for Missouri Pacific Railroad), etc.
Their unannounced rooftop concert in London had the neighbors and the people on the streets below all abuzz. It was to be their last live performance together. Of course, many people in surrounding offices complained, and the police eventually shut the concert down, but not before the world got some great music and film — Let It Be.
Although Get Back is not my favorite Beatles song (Let It Be holds that honor), it does get into my Top 10. Here is a YouTube video of Get Back from the London rooftop concert, and the lyrics:
Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a loner,
But he knew it couldn’t last.
Jo Jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona,
For some California grass.
Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, Jo Jo. Go home.
Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, Jo!
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman,
But she was another man.
All the girls around her say she’s got it coming,
But she gets it while she can.
Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, Loretta! You mommy’s waitin’.
In high heel shoes and a low-neck sweater.
Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back! Get back! Get back to where you once belonged.
