"Heroes and Villains"

From the Wikipedia entry:

"Heroes and Villains" is the title of a song co-written by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and Van Dyke Parks. Originally intended as the centerpiece of the fabled but ill-fated SMiLE album (which was not completed until 2004), the song was recorded in a number of versions by The Beach Boys during 1966-67.

Composed in early 1966, mostly in a large sandbox holding a piano built in Wilson's living room, "Heroes and Villains" was the first collaboration between Wilson and Parks. It is reported that when Wilson first played the melody to him, Parks devised the opening line on the spot. Various musical themes in the song recur in numerous other songs and musical fragments which Wilson recorded for SMiLE.



Here is the live version from 2005's Brian Wilson Performs Smile. The band Brian Wilson has is amazing. Even the percussionists are incredible musicians. Wilson looks like he's having a great time. He even looks straight into the camera and smiles a couple of times. The video:

"The Little Girl I Once Knew"

From the Wikipedia entry:

"The Little Girl I Once Knew" is a song written by Brian Wilson for the American pop band The Beach Boys. It was released in November 1965, as a single 45 rpm, and reached #15 on the Cashbox chart, #20 on Billboard. The last new original song the group produced before the album Pet Sounds, it was not included on any regular Beach Boys album, but has since been collected on several anthologies and as a bonus track on reissues of Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!).

Brian Wilson in '65
The song is notable for innovative use of two dramatic periods of near-silence lasting several seconds each. Although one of the Beach Boys' most exuberant songs, it was poorly received by radio stations preferring to avoid dead air time, which may account for its relatively low chart rating among their other singles of the period, including "California Girls" and "Barbara Ann". It is still rarely heard on oldies radio.

Capitol Records' rushed release of "Barbara Ann" in December ruined any chance "The Little Girl I Once Knew" had of continuing up the charts. Just after its release, John Lennon gave it a favorable review; another what-if for the Beach Boys.

So, poorly received by radio, given the stamp of approval by the "smart Beatle," the "last new original song" the Beach Boys recorded before Brian began working on the tracks for Pet Sounds was "The Little Girl I Once Knew." With the song divided into sections as it is, one can really hear the genesis of "Good Vibrations," and the other "sectional" types of things done for the scrapped Smile project. And to me, the music in this has always sounded very Pet Sounds-like. This was a preview of the main theme of Pet Sounds (i.e., "growing up is hard to do"), and a precursor to the real stand out on that album, the sad, yet so beautiful, "Caroline, No":

"Under My Skin." Again.

Many people have heard Frank Sinatra's "duet" (it's actually just Bono singing along with the recording Sinatra did first) with Bono of U2 on the Duets (1993) version of "I've Got You Under My Skin." Far fewer have heard it without Bono's half. Here is the song with just 77-year old Frank, no doubt wondering (as quotes of the Chairman at the time confirm) why exactly he was recording it again again:



the released version (with Bone-o)

Separated at birth?

More like a little exercise in stream of consciousness.......

This picture of Hillary, today at Drudge Report:


and this screencap of Captain Howdy from that heartwarming film, The Exorcist (1973)?:



No? Not feeling it? Well then, how about:

Hillary and
Kurtz?
Or Hillary
and Palpatine?

Wings fan in Lufkin

Apparently, the owner of this construction company in Lufkin has an interesting approach to the use of its marquee. I spotted this Wednesday morning and did a double take. I'm befuddled by the message (which was on both sides of the sign). Is it a tribute to the 1975 Paul McCartney and Wings album, Venus and Mars? What else could it be? I'll check it in a week or so to see what's there.....



Trailer for Rockshow (1980)


"Venus and Mars/Rockshow/Jet" from Rockshow

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

From the Wikipedia entry:

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by British alternative rock band The Cure. Released in 1987, this album put The Cure into the American mainstream, becoming their first album to reach the Billboard Top 40. It was a worldwide success.

It was originally a double album, and was also released on a single CD. The album was made for CD, as Robert Smith wanted to take advantage of the CD's storage capabilities, which was almost double that of a two sided record. As such, this is the first Cure album to go over an hour (approx. 74 minutes), as opposed to the normal 30-45 minutes. In fact, one track, "Hey You!!!", had to be removed from the original album, due to time restrictions on the CD format.

It feels like only yesterday I was buying this on cassette tape, but the promotional videos (released in 1987 and 1988) would indicate otherwise. There were three singles released from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me:

"Why Can't I Be You?"

"Just Like Heaven"


"Hot Hot Hot!!!"

Austin after dark

Club 115





The Paramount Theatre, built in 1915 as the Majestic



I couldn't take enough pics of Kruger's Jewelers!



State Capitol Building, built in 1888




The Ritz, built in 1929 down on 6th Street



Soho Lounge


Old Grove Drugstore


The Driskill, c. 1886