“Father Mountain
Iron & Wine, Calexico
Well, my father built a mansion on the mountain
I was chasing my Teresa around the tree
We were kicking precious stones
Sinking ships and swimming home
Only crazy for the comfort of our clothes
Well, my father built a mansion on the mountain
My Teresa dragged a rag across my brow
She said, “The weather’s never failed
The wind can only blow your hair”
And I believed her well enough but didn’t care
Everyone knows and they don’t know
Chandelier light ain’t love
It just watches the time go
Across the marble floor
Out the order mail door
Even rain can hear it running off the road
Well, my father built a mansion on the mountain
My Teresa threw me kisses through the core
We read the writing on the wall
Braced each other for the fall
There’s only one way off the mountain after all
Well, my father built a mansion on the mountain
It was me and my Teresa against the world
We took all the river had to give
Broke the bed and bought a grill
But left the mountain mansion, nothing to forgive”
This image of the Buddha showed up on the back of the lp “Easter Everywhere,” 1976, by the exploratory Texas band “13th Floor Elevators.” Besides being one of the great names for a group in recorded history, its a spiffy illustration of the 7 chakras: root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, 3rd eye and crown. Mission control!
John Biggers, “Shotguns,” 1987
“What has been defined as architecture is really then a merciless real estate system embodied in a continuous and frightening mass scale event the most disturbingly public and central operations of which are economic terror, physical eviction, and the exodus of the poorest groups of city inhabitants from the buildings interiors to the outdoors.”
Mr. Wodiczko, an activist, teacher and inventor, created this telescoping vehicle for the “unhoused “ to use.
Ed Prescottano, VW Bus
“Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother Tour Fillmore East April 1970
Sitting directly in front of me was Leonard Bernstein. Yes, that Leonard Bernstein from Lawrence, Massachusetts who wrote the outstanding music for West Side Story that premiered in 1957. He taught at Brandeis from 1951-1956 and an Arts Festival named after him is an annual event.
The first four albums from Pink Floyd were masterful displays of musicianship, electronics and psychedalia, the first two, principally due to Syd Barrett. Barrett became unreliable, reportedly due to excessive use of psychelic drugs and mental instability and the band hired David Gilmour to take over the lead guitar duties.
In 1970, Pink Floyd embarked on an ambitious 90 plus concert dates as part of the Atom Heart Mother World Tour, with one third of the concerts in the United Kingdom. I attended one of four shows that they performed at the Fillmore East as part of the tour.
The crowd was predominately young and male. It is the only time I’ve ever had to wait a considerable amount of time at an intermission to use a urinal. Despite the crowd, the restroom was eerily quiet. I think the audience, due to a combination of the music and whatever they may or may not have used prior or during the event was blown away.
Atom Heart Mother combines the use of symphonic and choral music into an almost 24 minute suite. Symphonic/progressive rock emerged in the late sixties in works by bands such as The Moody Blues, The Nice, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Procol Harem and even The Beatles in Sgt. Peppers.
One year later on Sept. 8, 1971, choreographed by Alvin Ailey, Bernstein’s fusion of gospel, jazz and pop, Mass premiered. The performance was fully staged, with over 200 participants. At the completion of the work, a three-minute silence engulfed the house, followed by a 30-minute standing ovation. Those in attendance embraced fully the last words of the libretto, as sung by the presiding priest, “The Mass is ended. Go in peace.”
P.S. The pieces below are the set list for the show I attended according to Spotify.
My memory, while pretty good, would not have been as definitive as to the order of the pieces.
Astronomy Domine
Green Is the Colour
Careful With That Axe, Eugene
Fat Old Sun
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Intermission
A Saucerful of Secrets
Atom Heart Mother
”
