BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS
DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION, AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP
MONTHLY MEETING THIS SUNDAY, MAY 1st, 2016
2:00 PM HOMEWOOD LIBRARY – 1721 OXMOOR ROAD 35209
NEXT MEETING SUNDAY, JUNE 12th, 2016 THE SECOND SUNDAY
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
First off a big thanks to John Mosley of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and Elnora Spencer for being our guests at last month’s meeting. I’m sure everyone there enjoyed the info and stories that each shared.
This month we have more special guests scheduled to be with us. We have two more of our Birmingham Legends, Sam Fraizer and Art Grayson, coming Sunday to tell us about their journey in the music business. Both will be inducted into the BRC Hall of Fame at our record show in August. Hope you can make it Sunday to hear their stories.
Also, we’ll have with us Tonya Holly. Tonya is currently involved in a project in Muscle Shoals. She is renovating one of the Fame Studios and will use it for a museum and I believe a place for concerts. We’ll have to get the full and complete story from her on Sunday. Be there!
And as always there will be boxes of vinyl for sale. Hopefully you can find those recordings you have been searching for.
SNACKS: It’s John’s turn to bring the snacks and refreshments. Next month it will be Don’s turn. Remember, if you are the person scheduled to bring the goodies, you will be responsible for taking home any snacks and drinks at the meeting the month before. Thanks.
THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION
I have noticed recently lots of shows about the rock group, The Doors on TV. The movie, The Doors, and 3 bios or special productions have been aired quite often. One is entitled ‘When You’re Strange’, another is ‘Mr Mojo Risin’: The Story of L A Woman’, and there is one about the death of Jim Morrison. In that one some new evidence or so-called evidence is explored – did he die at his apartment or in a nightclub due to an overdose and brought back to his apartment??? Since I liked their music back in the 60’s I watched these shows to get better informed about the group and the individuals. The name of the group came from a book entitled, The Doors Of Perception.
One thing I remember as a teenager about the group was the different sound their music had and how good the music was. Of course they had the hits everyone heard, ‘Light My Fire’, ‘Love Me Two Times’, ‘Touch Me’, ‘Hello, I Love You’, and ‘Riders On The Storm’, but some of the songs that didn’t climb high in the charts and some of their album cuts were just as good if not better – ‘Backdoor Man’, ‘Roadhouse Blues’, ‘Not To Touch The Earth’, ‘L A Woman’, ‘Five To One’, ‘Land Ho’, and ‘Been Down So Long’ were just a few. The band recorded music that was quite different than other bands of the time.
And I think what made the band so unique and tight with their music was the musical abilities of the band mates. John Densmore, the drummer started out playing the piano taking up drums when he joined his high school’s marching band. In college he studied music under a jazz cellist. His love was drumming as a jazz musician.
Robby Krieger, guitarist, first tried the trumpet then started playing blues on the family piano. While attending boarding school Robby began teaching himself the guitar. He wound up taking lessons and his favorite stye of music became classical and Spanish acoustic guitar. The latter can be heard in the bands recording of ‘Spanish Caravan’. Robby was also the main writer of songs like ‘Light My Fire’, ‘Love Me Two Times’, ‘Touch Me’, and ‘Love her Madly’.
Ray Manzarek , keyboards, wanted to play basketball as a power forward or center but when the coach said he would be a guard or leave the team, he left. He would have stayed with basketball and maybe never joined a band if not for that ultimatum. He started playing the piano at age 7 and his piano training would be classical and jazz and he would later fuse these together with the boogie woogie, rock, and the blues he enjoyed listening to. One thing you’ll note about the band is that they didn’t have a bass guitar player as a major player. Ray would play the keyboards with his right hand and play a bass keyboard with his left hand. The group liked the bass lines Ray provided doing this rather than the bass guitar players they auditioned. Manzarek died on May 20, 2013 from bile duct cancer.
And of course there was Jim Morrison, singer. Jim was a poet at heart but when he and Ray met and Jim read to him some of the poems and songs he had written they decided to start a band and put music to his words. With all of Jim’s controversy and his anti-establishment, anti- rules & regulations, a devil-may-care attitude there is one ironic thing about his life. His father was an Admiral in the U S Navy. And in case you have listened to the groups music over the years you may remember from the bridge of the song ‘L A Woman’ where Morrison keeps repeating the phrase ‘Mr Mojo Risin’. Morrison took his name and rearranging the letters came up with that anagram. Morrison died on July 3, 1971. Official cause of death was heart failure but an autopsy was never performed.
As you can see, the band members were highly trained musicians taking music very seriously. It’s a shame they only lasted as a group just over 4 years. But compared to many bands of that era that was a long time I suppose. One thing about the members was there closeness. They had all songs’ composer listed as The Doors – not individuals.
UPCOMING MUSICAL EVENTS
Tuesday, May 3rd. Boz Scaggs. Alabama Theatre. 7:00. Tickets range from $32.50 – $79.50. 1817 3rd Ave North. B’ham, AL 35203. 205-252-2262. http://www.ticketmaster.com/boz-scaggs-birmingham-alabama-05-03-2016/event/2000506808516B43?artistid=736052&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1
32ND ANNUAL BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS RECORD & CD SHOW
The weekend of August 20th & 21st will be our annual record & CD show. 9 AM – 5 PM on Saturday and
10 AM – 4 PM on Sunday. On Friday, August 19th we begin setting up at 9 AM. We hope to open up for the dealers to begin their setup process around noon. As things begin to settle down and the dealers are in place the remainder of that day, until around 9 PM will be our member and dealer time for buying and selling. Please be respectful of all the dealers as they are getting their area prepared. Make sure they are ready to sell before you start searching through their goods. Any person who is not a dealer or member can be a part of the day providing they join the club. $25 for a year or $50 for lifetime membership.
There will be forms for new members and they will give them a name tag. All members should have name tags during that day so we will know who is in the building. We have printed new membership cards for all lifetime members and if you haven’t gotten your yet you can pick it up at the show. If you are a lifetime member and you find that a card has not been printed for you, please let me know so I can get one for you.
Volunteers will be needed in these areas: Friday setup. Security check before we leave on Friday & Saturday night. Door workers for Saturday and Sunday. Tear down and clean up on Sunday afternoon. There is more information coming next month concerning our HOF induction and concert Saturday night and an update on providing food, snack, and refreshments at the show. Don’t miss it. VOLUNTEER!
BRC RADIO – HEART AND SOUL OF ROCK AND ROLL
Don’t forget to check out the radio shows the club offers on our website. We now have over 80 shows with over 1300 different songs. Check it out at http://www.birminghamrecord.com/brc/ – Tell a friend!
HEY! HAVE YOU HEARD THIS ONE?
Dee & Patty
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD THIS HIT?
Marty Robbins
# 1 on Country charts # 74 on Top 100 – 1963
See ya,
Charlie