Goodbye 2006, hello 2007. May the Healing continue...

Happy New Year, everyone. Please be safe tonight. I wish for all of you a great 2007. And, pray for peace.

First, a bit of news for tonight. Our great friends MOSAIC just sent out this MySpace email:

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL! If any of you are planning your celebration in Las Vegas, please make your way to PRINCE'S 3121 CLUB for his New Year's Concert and Post-Concert Jam Session with MOSAIC!!! It's going to be RIDICULOUS!

Thank you all for the incredible support and have a blessed 2007!!!

We LOVE YOU!

Cool, very cool. We hope MOSAIC will show up and again hang with Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns tomorrow night as well (yes, the band is playing January 1st at The Palms).

A 2006 REFLECTION

Well, in a few weeks this blog will be a full year old. I hope I've accomplished some good. It's been a pro bono labor of love for me, my admiration for all of these A-List cats is so total. My dream is that 2007 is the year that we can help launch this magnificent band out to the world to share their magic with hundreds of thousands of people all over the planet. I know I will do everything I can to help make that happen. Full court press, people, we need everyone to spread the word relentlessly.

On "Healing" -

May those who continue to suffer in harm's way in our defense find healing in the wake of the savage circumstances they find themselves in.

Also on the topic of "healing," I've been studying a disturbing book that I emphatically recommend to all. We are having a lively discussion about this at my day gig. Dr. John Abramson's "Overdo$ed America" recounts the takeover of health care in general and the "scientific" medical literature in particular in the U.S. by corporate interests simply out to mine our pockets bare by pushing crap drugs, therapies, and products that actually worsen the public health. It is an infuriating read regarding a situation that is rapidly bankrupting the nation and placing health care consumers at significantly greater risk.

"Most Americans assume that the scientific information provided to patients and physicians is accurate, that clinical practice is guided by science, and that as a result more medical care means better medical care. Overdosed America provides a compelling and well-documented analysis of why each of these assumptions is wrong. It is a book every American should read." -- Elliott Fisher, M.D., MPH, Professor of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School

This book is a real eye-opener. A lot of the good we're trying to do in my company (health care quality improvement) is directly contravened by the realities Dr. Abramson unveils. Very frustrating, sometimes I feel like we're just spinning our wheels.

More on "healing"- The planet. We're cooking it. There is little doubt to me. I'm almost 61, so I won't be alive long enough to experience the worst effects. But, I have kids and a grandson, and buku nieces and nephews. They will.

We have much work to do. Let The Healing begin on all fronts.

"...It's very easy to say
'Man, that just ain't the way,'
While you're contemplating a raindrop.
And it's all very fine
To sit and smoke all the wine,
But, what about the teardrop...
In a world where all of us are radical,
Now is not the time for a sabbatical..."

-Bill Champlin, The Sons, "Rooftop" (mp3 excerpt clip)
from "Loosen Up Naturally" 1968

MORE STUFF I FOUND WHILE SURFING MySpace...

Yikes. John Novello. Just got his CD '"Threshold" from CD Baby. Recorded and mixed live at The Baked Potato in L.A. Unreal. Check out "Journey to Nowhere." (mp3) 'eh?

THE FUTURE OF MUSIC

An interesting interview/discussion (mp3) with the authors of the cool book "The Future of Music," David Kusek and Gerd Leonhard. This book is a must-read for all musicians. These cats are really on top of things.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHERYL

We been together nearly 33 years. I am so blessed. New Year's Eve is her birthday.

ALABAMA WOMAN

She's my Alabama Woman
And I love her so.
Well, I met her down in B'ham
Thirty years ago.
I'm a lucky dawg
To hook up with my Southern Belle,
And, it just keeps gettin' better
Since the day I fell

For my Alabama Woman,
She's a Rollin' Tide,
Lookin' mighty good in
Crimson Tuscaloosa pride.
Well, the first time, when I met her
She just blew my mind,
How could anyone look so good
And be so smart and kind?

Well, my Alabama Woman,
She's my Heart and Soul.
Yeah, my Alabama Woman
Makes my life so whole.
Sweet li'l Heart of Dixie lover
Makes the world all right,
All I ever wanna do is
Rock with you all night.

Well, she came down off the farm
To take the world by storm.
They ain't never been a woman
Been in finer form.
I was livin' kinda lost, but,
Boy, did I get Found,
And I Praise the Lord
She keeps my flaky ass around.

Yeah, my Alabama Woman,
Rocked my world for sure
Oh, my Alabama Woman
She's my only cure.
Well, my Sweet Magnolia Honey
Make the whole world right,
All I ever wanna do
Is Roll with you all night.

Words & Music Copyright 2006 Bobby Gladd,
All Rights Reserved.

LOL!! Think basic Bob Seger-ish fuzz guitar 4/4 rock groove (haven't demo'ed this one yet). Did I manage to (deliberately) get enough "southern" cliches in that one? The Lady has long been my favorite songwriting subject, (circa 1977)

See y'all tomorrow night.

RANDOM UPDATE STUFF, 6:27 p.m...

Cheryl and I are fixin' to go out and eat in a bit. She's gettin' ready, so a couple of thoughts while I'm just idling. First, relating back to my prior post, I bought the Loggins & Messina reunion tour Santa Barbara concert DVD the other day (Shem is on it). Two and a half hours of way cool stuff. Major league value, this purchase (only about $18 at Best Buy). The vocals! OMG! And deep into the show, they get off into some great funky extended jams. Jim Messina remains one clean, funky guitar player.

I make no apology for my Loggins Jones. This cat is the shit. Even Jerry says that Kenny is one cat he really would love to hook up with (I'm gonna keep workin' on that, maybe we'll have to get Champlin to give KL a call). I been followin' Kenny Loggins since early on, man. Dude can really throw down. (Click mp3. I rest my case.)

I have all of his stuff, all the way back to early Loggins & Messina (that whole initial hookup is a great story).

38482

Zip Code 38482 (zoom it out, all the way to the 'Bama line, and click 'hybrid' view). LOL! Santa Fe, Tennessee (Google it). About 40 miles SW of Nashville. Cheryl and I tentatively plan to move -- in maybe 3-5 years -- back closer to her family in Anderson, Alabama (about a mile below the Tennessee line just south of Pulaski). So, we're thinking south central Tennesssee, with decent proximity to Nashville, maybe put down some cash on some land in anticipation.

"Santa Fe, TN"! Perfect! I was just surfing properties on the market there, found a 3 BR house with a six stall horse barn, on 30 acres for about what my house here is worth now. Wow. Pretty interesting.