... begins "The Anniversary Song", Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin's morose, faux Ruritanian schmaltzer, one of Don Van Vliet's favorite songs in fact, which he liked to unleash live, a capella, at the drop of a, uh, a Hat (right up there with "Murderer", his readymade r&b "hit" for the putative pop project he dubbed the Van Damn Pyre group)...

as last night Dec. 28th marked the twenty-second anniversary of LucasSinclair Inc. I thought I'd crank up "The Anniversary Song" on the old Itunes to get those lachrymal ducts deluxe a flowin' again...and lo and behold discovered a very Russian Tea Room-ish kind of live version with weeping vioins (probably a radio/early tv aircheck) available at the Itunes Store, a version sung by Jolson, Der Bingle, and Judy (Garland--well, said grande dame is listed in the registry :-)... but by the evidence here emits nary a sigh on this particular download...maybe the two veteran crooners were merely serenading her, or she was off-mic)...anyway, good stuff! Guy Lombardo's got a version available there too I notice...shall I visit the "99 Cents Store" again to partake of this particular audio gem?...I shall...oh yeah.

Now why Jolson should have colored his musical commemoration of his own sacred vows with the minor-key, almost dirge-like melody of " The Anniversary Song" on what should on the face of it be a hap-hap-happy knees-up kind of occasion (celebrating a longterm successsful partnership, come on!) begs the question of whether Al was mourning his loss of innocence, "as the years go passing by", (tune's got a "September Song"-ish kind of vibe)...or whether he was mourning the longerm loss of bachelor status...libido...or (most probably his) Mammy (remember "Expresso Bongo"--the Andrew Oldham early playbook--and its incredible "Shrine On the Second Floor" number, Cliff Richard's paean to his "grey-haired Madonna " of a mother...song courtesy of Monty Norman, of James Bond Theme fame)...dunno, really... but the chickensoup weltschmaltz of "The Anniversary Song" does indeed smack somewhat of resignation (on the order of the ur-blues lyric " gotta ring round her finger/and a ring through his nose")...

Now no relation, obviously, is all Love and Rockets, all of the time!

But-- "Here Today", I must tell ya, that Caroline and I are getting along (in)famously...dancing the night away in fact (give me Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" over "The Anniversary Song" anytime!)...feeling better than ever probably because NEITHER of us has the upper hand, all of the time...human relationships being what they are in this bittersweet human amalgam, it seems obvious that couples trapped in fixed roles tend to split up sooner...

with us, the rather boring question of who's on top? who's on first? dominance and submission is moot(able)...

(Me, I'd rather switch than fight)...

Love

xxGary

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Posted by Gary Lucas to Gary Lucas at 12/28/2006 08:19:00 PM