The Good Shepard

A great writer is gone. Sam Shepard will be remembered for many plays as well as acting roles. And he should be remembered too for his collaboration with Bob Dylan on what is one of the latter's most stunning pieces of poetry/music: 'Brownsville Girl'.

'Brownsville Girl', with its tumultuous imagery of life on the road mixed up with movie references and an impenetrably mysterious plot, was the high point on a humdrum album called 'Knocked Out Loaded' and one of Dylan's finest moments.

Much of the credit should go to Shepard for inspiring Dylan's tour de force, and for the feeling the song conveyed of a lost and decaying America.

Shepard also memorably travelled with Dylan on the Rolling Thunder review tour and published the diary that he kept during those momentous days and nights.

He was never starstruck, but in his own quiet way Shepard was a genuine star.

All The President's Mendacity

Not that this is the first time it's been quoted, but "even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked"...

It was a Bob Dylan line that drew huge applause "live" at the time of Richard Nixon's downfall and which continues, like so much of Dylan, to be just as relevant now...

As does the more prosaic Watergate non-Dylan quotation: "What did the president know and when did he know it?"

The "stand naked" line comes, of course, from "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", a gigantic song that covers far more than the frailty of presidents, and which – if any were needed – could supply justification for Dylan's Nobel Prize for Literature.

On The Pembrokeshire Road

The new picture at the top of this blog was taken in Pembrokeshire and it captures quite a lot of what I feel about this special place in south-west Wales.

Every time I leave it, I'm drawn to return. And also to write about it. You can read my latest paean to Pembrokeshire (an appreciation of the county's back roads) on PembrokeshireLifeOnline and lots more about every aspect of my favourite place in the UK.

Big Not Beautiful

We used to have a great independent health store in our neighbourhood. The arrival of a Whole Foods Market nearby helped to shut it down. The superstore had more stuff and it was cheaper – although it didn't have anyone with the wide-ranging expert knowledge that the guy who ran the health store had.

Today, what was once an independent health shop selling fresh organic vegetables and top-quality supplements is a national grocery chain store selling brightly coloured packets of processed food and sweets.

In the end, I gave in and became a Whole Foods customer.

It was disenchantment with the onward march of big business putting small businesses out of business that led me some time ago to stop buying anything from Amazon. That decision made it harder for me to buy music and films, but not impossible.

Now I hear that Amazon has bought up the Whole Foods chain. Big fish swallowed by even bigger fish. And so now I can't shop in Whole Foods any more.

How does this all end? Not well, I imagine.

Our Drums Are Our Bond

Drummers stick together. When several bands play on the same bill, it's pretty much guaranteed  it will be the drummers who hang out together the quickest and easiest. Why? Because we have so much to talk about!

But seriously, we learn from each other and tend to respect each other's different approaches to playing.

The bond between drummers is, sadly, illustrated today by the tributes paid by the widow of John Blackwell Jr, former drummer with Prince, who has succumbed to cancer.

She lists among those who have given their support and friendship: Gregg Bissonette, Dennis Chambers, Antonio Sánchez, Billy Cobham, Chad Smith and Natalie Depergola. 

Great drummers and great hearts.

Out Of Time

I've mentioned Drumhead magazine before – as being the best drumming magazine there is. It has some really thoughtful pieces and carries serious interviews at length.

But it has just announced its new issue thus: "Drumhead's first female cover artist! Japan's sensational Senri Kawaguchi!"

Guys, it might have been better not to draw attention to this fact. This is the year 2017. Women have been playing drums for decades and decades – probably as long as men have. That it has taken you this long to feature a female drummer on your cover is something to be ashamed of – not to trumpet.

Great magazine – but it would be greater still without just a very faint whiff of sexism.