I completed everything that I had to do, and i thought Thursday would be a quiet day--
But it wasn't.
I was on the phone for about three hours, with my aunt, my sister, and with my dental insurer, which, over the months my son and I have have been covered by them, has given us nothing but trouble related to bill payment (don't ask).
But at least i had the normal flow of work and other things to do, so I wouid rather have the time to touch base with my sister and aunt than to do hours and hours of typing.
(The stuff with the dental insurer I can completely live without.)
And I texted with my daughter--
Will wonders never cease!
Anyway, as you are reading this, it is Friday the 13th, i am at the doctor for yet another examination, and all the fun continues next week, when I have to bring my car in for an oil change and yearly inspection ... and then later in the week, I have to go to yet another doctor.
But during this past week, we lost Sly Stone first, and then Brian Wilson.
I am going to talk about Wilson first.
Personally, I don't think I truly got the Beach Boys until I was older.
I thought a lot of their music was wimpy, but as I got older, i understood the lyrics and themes a bit more, and I became a fan.
Those songs evoke summer, but if you got Wilson's music, you know that he was writing these songs almost in third person.
He wasnt a surfer, wasnt popular with California girls, and this all forced him to look elsewhere, "God Only Knows."
But if you were looking for a soundtrack of the 1960s, you must at least include, if not fully turn to, Wilson's Beach Boys songs as a template for that era.
And whether as a participant or in third person, he "got" summer--
As did Sylvester Stewart, who i think was the complete opppsite of Wilson; as he actually lived the summer, and it showed in his music--
Such as "Hot Fun in the Summertime," one of the great seasonal anthems.
But Sly was more than that.
He mixed rock, soul, rhythm and blues, jazz and gospel and created funk, and during their short period of prominence, Sly and the Family Stone were "IT"--nobody looked like them or sounded like them.
I have a personal recollection related to Sly ... or was it Walt?
The story is that both Sly's girlfriend at the time, and Walt Frazier's girlfriend, lived in my old neighborhood, Rochdale Village, South Jamaica, Queens, New York, about 1969-1970 or so.
I remember that word got around quickly that one of them would be picking up his girlfriend in Rochdale in his Rolls Royce.
We went over to Section 5, I think it was, the Rolls Royce came, the girl was picked up, and the car drove away, with a bunch of us stupid kids running behind the car until it took off.
Again, I don't know if it was Sly or Walt, but I was one of those stupid kids.
Great memory.
Both were troubled souls, wasting their gifts on drugs and later, mental illness.
But i would rather think of the good times
Brian and Sly are now creating new masterworks in heaven, but what they left behind ...
WOW!
Have a great weekend, and i will speak to you again on Monday--
And Happy Father's Day!