Doctor Noe's Gadget

NAMM 2012 Noë & Seymour

2012-01-23T00:10:00.001-08:00

This is Seymour Duncan, a legend in his own right. After covering just about all the square footage at the NAMM show and imbibing of as many free hors d'oeuvres and shots as I could bear, I bumped into Seymour, the legendary maker of pickups and other sound-refracting devices for the likes of Jeff Beck, Yngwie Malmsteen and my beloved compadre Roy Buchanan ...

This one's Roy Buchanan in the glory days with pickup-meister Seymour Duncan. Seymour made his luthier's bones via the apprentice route in Leo Fender's factory in Fullerton. He later applied his craft secrets to the mojo of Tele-masters like Roy Buchanan and Jeff Beck. Seymour will be featured in the full-on "director's cut" documentary version of "Roy Buchanan Telly Talk."

The photo is featured in Noe the G's teaser trailer for the Roy Buchanan Telly Talk DVD here ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ggDm3wh3IM

I joined Seymour as he was setting out to sample the Tennesee soul stew of ...

… Legendary Roots/Blues Guitarist, Grammy Award-winning Producer Pete Anderson, who was holding forth at the lobby of the Hilton Hotel across the way.

You could do worse than to check out my little Youtube report here:

Meandering at NAMM 2012 - Pete Anderson Live

Pete performs "Blue Guitar" in this buzz clip.

Do check out these links for some highly entertaining and elucidating footage about Seymour:

Seymour Intvw Pt. 1

Seymour Intvw Pt. 2

Seymour Intvw Pt. 3

Seymour Intvw Pt. 4

OK, a lot of groovy coincidences at the NAMM Show in Anaheim yesterday. I'm meandering around the floor, as is my wont, checking out various and sundry devices, maestros, hucksters and weirdos. The usual menagerie of sound and bupkiss.

Back in the day when I was the editor of a national guitar rag, this was a bi-yearly perambulation – summertime they used to hold them in Chicago, but the perk-like excursion for a New York City boy was mos' def the one in January.

So in the spirit of old times I embarked once more into the Orange County breech.

On the advice of Seymour, I went to check out Legendary Roots/Blues Guitarist, Grammy Award-winning Producer Pete Anderson, who was holding forth at the lobby of the Hilton Hotel across the way.

Copyright © 2012 Noë Gold
So I went and indulged. What a show this was! I was overwhelmed and blown away. And while I was thus occupied, I also rubbed elbows with just about every other amigo in the Guitar World I had hoped to see.

So by and large it was a swell day.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Seymour gave me a CD of his music, pointing out that one of the cuts, " OK Roy," was dedicated to Roy Buchanan. You can check out Seymour's music here:

Seymour Duncan Top Albums

Zappa's Inferno

2012-01-03T03:14:00.001-08:00

FZinGWP2, a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

from an interview first published in Guitar World April 1987 on the occasion of the release of THE GUITAR WORLD ACCORDING TO FRANK ZAPPA distributed by Guitar Galaxy in association with Barking Pumpkin

Zappa by Noe the G. - Guitar World, April 1987
Zappa's Inferno
By Noë the G

copyright © Noe Gold
FRANK ZAPPA'S FULLY-EQUIPPED HOME RECORDING STUDIO is where he'd most rather be. "I never go out," he says, though his Laurel Canyon home commands a panoramic view of Los Angeles. "I could be just as happy if all this" – gesturing toward the array of equipment that surrounds him in this devil's advocate's workshop – "were in Utah. Except for the fact that the hardware and technicians are available in the L.A. area, and the stuff can be serviced here." The fact is, all Frank really wants to do is work.

Whether he acknowledges it or not, Zappa has been admired by guitarists for years because of the sheer free-flying gonzo-ness of his solos within the otherwise-precise organization of his compositions. He's always been a real Mother of a player. As a bandleader, his draconian insistence on perfection has brought out the best in his players, especially the guitarists he has introduced to the world through his succession of bands: Lowell George, Adrian Belew, Warren Cuccurullo and Steve Vai all cut their teeth in Zappa's marching society.

We thought about this – your editor, Noe the G., and Associate Publisher Greg Di Benedetto – as we descended with Frank into the bowels of his private inferno, otherwise known as the United Muffin Research Kitchen (U.M.R.K.).

Our purpose was to plan the Guitar World According To Frank Zappa tape-a 34-minute collection of rare Zappa solos on a special GW audio cassette which this magazine will make available in the spring-and to talk about guitar stuff.

Well, Frank was perfectly poised to talk about guitar and to play us some of the hours of great solos he has on all those tapes in his vault. But as far as performing on the instrument, we were surprised to discover, the guitar guru has been getting his playing jollies from entering notes and manipulating them with his Synclavier. For various reasons you will hear in his own words in this interview, Frank hadn't played serious guitar in two years (the last recorded example of Frank playing will be available on our Guitar World According To Frank Zappa tape). He'd even lost his callouses!
But fear not, dear reader. Zappa had plenty to say about playing guitar and where the instrument is going. And, believe us, there's reams of guitar in Frank's vaults, which he continues to classify and release to the public as long as the demand is there, through his own Barking Pumpkin organization. The Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar collections did quite well worldwide, so you can expect more to be released in the future.
And we hear that since our talk with Frank, he's been building up his callouses and thinking about going back on the road with his guitar and a band. The moral: you can take the Zappa out of guitar playing, but it'll take a long time to get all the guitar playing out of Frank Zappa.

Let me get a level on the tape recorder. Say, "The poodle bites."
Frank Zappa: The poodle chews it.

**Come on, Frenchie! Do you see a conceptual continuum between, say, "Call Any Vegetable" and Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar? Or between the Mothers 0f Invention and the Mothers of Prevention?
There are some links, yeah. The main drawback of the medium I'm working in is, until I got the computer I was locked into making music based on the assets and/or liabilities of the guys in the band. In other words, if you want to write something that's faster than what the guys can play, you can't hear it, because they can't play it that fast. Or if you want something for an instrumentation that you don't have in the band, then you won't hear it. But now that I can do it with a computer, that's not a problem anymore.

Was it always that way? When you were writing parts for, say Roy Estrada, or anybody in the early days for instance, it was all charted out, and-**
N0--because, the only time I ever had a band where everybody could read [music] was the band that had Jean-Luc Ponty and Ralph Humphrey, and Ian and Ruth [Underwood] and George [Duke], that was a reading band. And Grand Wazoo, that was a reading band. All the rest of 'em were like half-and-half. Half the guys could read, half of 'em couldn't.

Now with the computer--the Synclavier-- you don't need the band to work out the music. What about the quality of the sound itself?
I'll play you some tapes; you tell me.

What about MIDI? Some say it's the next big thing. Others say, "it's not a guitar anymore."
It's either guitar plus or guitar minus, depending on how you look at it. The big problem with doing anything MIDI is the lag. It's like learning how to play a church pipe organ. Because when you press a key on a pipe organ, the sound doesn't come out right away. It's the same thing with MIDI. You have to get used to the lag. I can't. I haven't played a guitar synthesizer yet that feels comfortable.

With the Synclavier, can you explain that? The mechanical differences in working with that.
What? for the way I compose on it? I can enter information with the octapad, and I can enter it with the keyboard, or I can type it in.

Can you spontaneously jam with it?
Yeah. You can take a completely improvised line and build an entire composition out of it.
You see, it's still a single line. But with this, you can improvise a single line and have that line being played by a whole ensemble of instruments and actually have those instruments play that line in harmony. It's not an improvised line anymore. It's an arrangement.

What is all that activity doing to your guitar playing per se---
Haven't touched it in two years.
[There is a brief pause as the interviewers collect what's left of their minds from the floor.]

You haven't?
[Zappa sits back in his chair, letting this one sink in.]

You don't miss it at all?
Every once in a while... but I don't play a style that is contemporary, you know? I don't do all the 1980s guitar noises. Unfortunately, the audience for guitar playing has a real narrow interest span. If you don't sound like Eddie Van Halen, then apparently you don't actually play guitar any more. I have no intention of ever sounding like Eddie Van Halen, and, uh, it makes you wonder why you would even bother to play the guitar, because the current audience would listen to it and go, "That's not a guitar. It doesn't go 'wee wee wee wee, wee wee wee wee.'" So why do it?

Dweezil would probably rebut that, what with his own infatuation for Ed Van Halen.
I'm not saying anything against Eddie because I think what he's done for the guitar is wonderful. But the thing that's tragic
about the marketplace is that everybody decided that they were all going to do that, and then the competition is not musical. It's gymnastic. Okay, they say, "I want to sound like Eddie, but in order to be better than Eddie I have to be faster than Eddie." That seems to be the aesthetic operating procedure in the marketplace. Meanwhile, Edward probably sits back and goes, "These guys are really stupid." Because I don't think that's what he had in mind when he developed the style.
It's just like with MTV. MTV has a certain look, because it has a limited pictorial vocabulary. All the videos are made up of certain icons. If you don't work in that vocabulary, then the MTV audience doesn't perceive it as a real video, know what I mean? It's gotta have certain things in it. So, take your pick. You can write hooks and go in there and do that shit, or you can do something else. I decided to do something else.
I'm looking for whatever else is out there. I'm looking for different structures, different sounds, different types of harmonic combinations. Different rhythms.

The guitar ... aside from being busy with other stuff, the reason you put it down two years ago or whatever ... does it not give you that anymore? Because I personally--and a lot of our readers--love your guitar sound. To me that always meant your personal voice within whatever music we were hearing. If you had the band going precision and precise ... but when you hit the guitar solo, it was not precise at all. It was something transcendent, something out.
It's another vegetable. The problem is, most of the best stuff that I will physically be able to do on the guitar is already on tape. You just haven't heard it yet. I mean, I don't have much incentive to play it. I don't have any callouses anymore. I can still think guitar. But to physically manipulate it, I would have to go back in and woodshed for months on end just to be able to do it. For what? There's really no audience for it. Which is not to say that there's a great audience for this new digital stuff either, but I have more incentive to work on this, because it leads to other more interesting things than to sit in there and practice the guitar. Because even when I was playing the guitar I didn't practice. You know? When I was on the road I would do an hour a day before the show, but, I've never been one of those guys ... Dweezil practices non-stop, day in, day out.

So the guitar solo right now, doesn't really play a role in your music? Even for things that can't be done with the Synclavier?
Well, look at it this way: I got plenty of tapes of these things. I can release another guitar solo album. And, when you see what the guitar solo has been reduced to in contemporary music, it's like an eight-bar fill. And during that fill, you're supposed to play every hammer-on lick that you know as fast as you can play it, followed by 15 feedback noises and then get the fuck out of there. You know, that's what the guitar solo has been reduced to, and that's not the medium I've ever worked in.

I recall you saying once that the hardest thing to accomplish in a guitar solo is to come up with a distinct melody within that solo. The solo itself would be ... improvised.
Yeah, just make it up on the spot--

But a melody--
--Yeah, well listen to what's going on in solos today. When was the last time you heard someone make one up with a melody?

When you're composing, and you're working with the Synclavier, and you get to a point where in the old days you were thinking about composing for the guitar as well, what do you do at that juncture? Do you put a coda-type thing in there?
It would be difficult to talk about what I'm doing over there since you don't know what it is. I should just stop the tape and go over there and show you what I'm doing.
[Stops tape and we get a demo of Frank composing on the Synclavier He taps out a few seemingly random rhythms, makes some observations of the CRT screen and manipulates parameters of music around the "random rhythms." The music coming out of the Synclavier is many-faceted, but typical Zappa, with percussive marimbaesque runs and odd cat growls prancing about together.]

That sounds like your music. Same guy.
Are you familiar with the piece on the Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar album called "While You Were Out?" Well, on the new album [Jazz From Hell] there's a deluxe computer version of that. But it's not played by a guitar.
I look at that thing-the recording console-and it's like a musical instrument, if you use it the right way. You've gotta start with a musical idea. if it's not a musical idea what is it? An equation?

How do you get that? How do you start? Do you have entire complicated things full-blown that spring out of your brain, or do you start with something small and you build it up?
Sometimes, I have a complete vision of what the thing is and it's just drudgery to go in there and execute the vision. And another way is, you start by hitting a couple of notes on that [Synclavier], and if you like it you save 'em and make a piece on it, and if you don't you throw it away.

How do you keep track of everything? On each floppy, there's like a million things...
Aaah! then you have to have a good memory.

Yet, when we first started talking about this interview, we discussed guitar noisemakers and these devices that you seem to have a fondness for--the Green Ringers and the Uni-Vibes and such. Things that give that idiosyncratic, anarchic tone.
Well, I like the sound of a guitar. My idea of the best use of a guitar is some thing that's personal ... not necessarily commercially viable. There are things I like to hear coming out of a guitar. But that's my personal taste.

The Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar series, how did the three records do commercially?
Real good, as a matter of fact. And it surprised the shit out of a lot of people. For example, when it was first released, there
were 30,000 units of that three-record box sold in France alone. Which is some thing of a merchandising miracle in that country. It's done well and it's still selling.

So, are you going to do any more of those?
Yeah, I got another one that I've been fooling around with.

And that's all stuff, like what you said before, "I don't have to play guitar because I have so much stuff already" and it's--
--it's on tape, right.

Do you have any urge to play at all in public any more?
I'd have to have an awful good reason, and in order to play in public I'd have to learn to how to play the guitar again--literally. I don't have any callouses. I couldn't bend the strings.

It's weird because we're from a guitar magazine and you're not really into playing guitar anymore.
Well, what's that got to do with releasing guitar records? As I told you, there's plenty of stuff on tape. I can play you some stuff--examples of what's lurking in the archives. I've even sequenced a few of the solos, but I haven't come up with a satisfactory sequence for about six sides of guitar stuff ... there's just masses to choose from [Solos Frank is talking about will be available as The Guitar World According To Frank Zappa in a future issue of this magazine. Watch for it--GW Ed.]

How were these recorded?
All live.

**They are live. So how do you deal with the 24-track?
They're all different. Some of them were recorded four-track live, but that doesn't mean they sound cheesy. One thing I always hated to do was play guitar in a studio. I always thought it was an incredibly boring experience.

Like playing in a vacuum, isn't it? So therefore, in order to really play guitar, you've got to hire a band, and that becomes cumbersome. And I guess nobody's going to want to audition just to be in Frank's back-up band, just so Frank can play guitar. If it's not necessarily going to go on a record or something.
That's true. It's the law of supply and demand, you know? There ya go.

But with all this involvement, do you still keep up with who the musicians are around here?
No. I mean, the guys who were good yesterday are still good today-unless they've nuked themselves with drugs. The guys that are going to be good, we'll eventually hear about 'em anyway.

Do you still hear from some of the guys you've played with? Does Steve Vai, for instance, keep in touch with you?
Yeah, he comes over every once in a while. But he was on the road for a year.

How did you first meet up with him?
He sent me a cassette. When he was 17.

And he was in a music school at the time.
Berklee.

How about Adrian Belew?
I found Adrian working in a bar in Memphis, Tennessee. He was working in a bar band. They were all dressed like the Godfather. They had, you know, fake mob-type suits on and stuff and he was doing Roy Orbison imitations.

I never would have thought of him like that. Did you hire him on the spot?
No. I don't hire people right away. I give them a chance to audition.

Was he always into that Hendrix thing, or did he develop it later?
He was doing some of it at that show.

Can you give our readers any practical advice?**
Give me a field. Help them with what? Getting a job? How's this?: You want to get a job? Practice all your licks real fast. Get a good wardrobe. Get a good barber. Want to get a record contract? Get a good wardrobe, get a good barber. Don't even worry about how you play. They're not signing musicians anymore, they're signing models. Make sure you look good.
Look, everybody who buys a record has a right to buy what they like. And obviously, somebody really enjoys what's being produced today, or they wouldn't buy it. However, I think there's more to music than what is being made available by the record companies because they have been completely bamboozled by the video music syndrome. Record companies have made a major mistake. MTV came along and they thought, "Oh! this is it. We're no longer going to make records"--those little plastic things that people listen to?--"What we're going to do, we're going to sign groups that look like models, so that they can have a video on MTV."
The down side of this is the record companies are now totally at the mercy of MTV--that's their main outlet. How many videos can they show on MTV? Not that many. This limits the opportunity for people who actually play music. To play music, because you're not going on MTV unless you belong on MTV; furthermore, you're probably not going to get a record contract unless the guy at the record company thinks you look good.
Now, not all musicians are beautiful people. In fact a lot of 'em would generally qualify as being physically unattractive. But so what? If you like a record, you can listen to that record a hundred times and still get off on it. If you like a video, how many times can you watch it? Six, ten? Thirty, if you're a vegetable. And then it's old.
So the record industry has kind of chosen this one path and I think they made a mistake. Thev have igoored the desires of that segment of the audience that likes to listen to music. They like to hear it. It goes in through your ears. Video music is another thing. It goes in through your eyes. And better than 50 percent of what you experience is visual. The music is secondary to the pictures. So, if musicians who are just beginning think only of how much money they're going to make and whether or not they're going to have that big video career ... they have to decide right now whether or not they want to play music or be a model. And if it's the bucks they're after, like I said, "Get yourself a good wardrobe. Get a good barber. Don't worry too much about what you're going to play," because the chances are, if your publicity picture really looks good, the guy at the record company won't even listen to your tape. If you got the look, they'll find a producer to make you sound like something, because all you're ever going to do is lip-sync it anyway. Okay? You're never really gonna have to play it live. Chances are some producer hired by the company will come in and do what you're supposed to be able to do. And if that sounds like science fiction, I bet there's plenty of people right now, readin' the magazine saying, "Yeah, that's what I want to do!" And they should do it. Because there's somebody who wants to buy that. But that's not music as far as I'm concerned.

Did you give Dweezil that advice before he put his lp out? Apparently, it's worked, because he's gotten on MTV. And he looks good, so----
--well, I can't help the way he looks. And he chooses his own wardrobe, but the fact of the matter is that Dweezil can actually play an instrument.

So that's a fluke, according to your theory of how musicians make it these days.
Yeah, yeah. Uh, he's a mutation.

**No more school for him, right?
He was out of school at 15 because in California you can take the high school equivalency test at 15 and get a diploma. So he's out. Moon did the same thing.

So he's not going to college, or ...
Why should he? He doesn't want to be a dentist, he doesn't want to be a lawyer. He wants to be a guitar player.

Are you aware of people like Yngwie Malmsteen?
I know who he is. Dweezil played me a tape of his.

What do you think of him?**
Uh, not my style. Good ...

Does Dweezil look up to him? Is he influenced by him?
I think everybody who does gymnastic guitar and looks at other gymnastic guitarists sort of goes, "How fast is he movin' his fingers?" It is a competitive thing. But you have to ask him about that.

Yngwie himself might be an original, but if everybody's copying him, that shows you how bankrupt people are.
Yeah, but come on; in the seventies everybody was going as fast as John McLaughiin. As long as the media celebrates the guy who is the fastest, that's what people are going to go for.
I think it is wonderful to be able to play fast. It's even more wonderful to play things that are impossible. It's even more wonderful to defeat the law of averages. Things that you play fast are usually things that you rehearse fast. I'll tell ya a fast guitar player--Tommy Tedesco. You want to hear somebody play some scales? Go hear Tommy. Tommy can play other stuff, too.

You've talked about your antecedents, like Johnny Guitar Watson and others you were influenced by. There's no obvious trace of them. It must be less literal.
What I've taken from them is not from their sound it's their attitude. I'm probably stylistically closer to Guitar Slim than anybody else. But since nobody knows what he did ...[laughter]. There's a couple of solos he played that I thought were landmarks--but they were very obscure.
Watson, he's the original minimalist guitar player. The solo on "Lonely Nights," the one-note guitar solo? Says it all! Gets the point across. I can remember guitar players in high school learning that solo and just going, "But how does he get it to sound that way?" lt really- was one note. If you can play that note against those chord changes and derive the same emotional impact that he got from playing that note, then you're onto something. He can make that one be so nasty. You know, like, "What's behind that note? What is the mode? Why are you continuing to play the tonic when the dominant chord comes around? Are you goin' like this
[gestures with his middle finger in the "F-you" position] with your playing or what?" You have to learn how to do that.

A lot of the new kids playing today aren't really concerned with all that. And they should be.
Really, though, if you take away the gymnastics, you have to say, "What's the message here!" It's like, uh, a pissing contest [laughter].

But it's weird, Frank. Here we are, the editors of a guitar magazine, we keep seeing the evidence of this copying of styles that is so prevalent today. And we keep going, like, "What can we do to turn these people onto somebody, like, 'Listen to a Wes Montgomery record'" or something like that?
You know what happens if you turn 'em on to that? They'll copy Wes Montgomery. Because this is a copycat society.

Why is that? It wasn't always like that.
The answer is very simple. It's the same way you train a dog. When you don't want him to do something, you hit him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. When you do want him to do something. you give him a biscuit. Okay? All the biscuits have been given to copycats. Does anybody in guitar magazines ever say, "Wait a minute. You should get the newspaper on the nose if you're coming out sounding like the guy next door." You don't get the newspaper on the nose. People are being praised and rewarded for copying other people. Look at the award shows on television, People become exalted because they sound the same. And you say, "Why do they do it?" Because there's nothing to tell a new guy not to do it. Everything tells him, "Yes, do it." That's the key to success today, to be the same as the next guy, only faster.
You know why that happens? Because generally the people who write ahout music don't know music. Anybody can tell whether these four notes are faster than these four notes. But what does it take to listen to Johnny Guitar Watson's one note, and know that he's doin' that? Did you ever point that out to a reader. Did you ever get across that there's something more to it than rilly-rilly-ree?
If the criticism or reporting of current musical events is left to people who do not have enough of a musicological back ground to even know where the licks were stolen from--whaddaya got? There's nothing wrong with themes so long as you admit where the shit came from.

Was there ever a practitioner of the guitar--- Hendrix, say----that blew you away in terms of being a total original?
One of the most interesting guys on guitar on the planet is Allan Holdsworth. I really respect his playing.
Billy Gibbons is an original. The style that he does, although I know a lot of the blues antecedents that it was derived from, he goes like that [raises middle finger again]. You've gotta have that in your playing.
I thought Hendrix was great. But the very first time I saw him I had the incredible misfortune to be sitting real close to him at the Au Go Go in New York City, and he had a whole stack of Marshalls and I was right in front of it. I was physically ill--I couldn't get out, it was so packed I couldn't escape. And although it was great, I didn't see how anybody could inflict that kind of volume on himself let alone other people. That particular show he ended by taking the guitar and impaling it in the low ceiling of the club. Just walked away and left it squealing.

Have Harps Will Travel

2011-12-30T15:52:00.001-08:00

NoeHarpMiddleW.HaveHarps_40, a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

♥.•*¨`*•.¸.•´ ♥.._██_ ....(´• ̮•) ♥..( . • . ) ..... (... • .. ). Merry Christmas & Happy New Year ♥ from Middle Walter blues harmonica du jour.

Here's some links to my Middle Walter persona.

youtu.be/QBDjpF2bmxU

youtu.be/4ggDm3wh3IM

I have played with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Van Morrison and the East Coast band The Bluetones. Have not been gigging too much lately – I am a writer by trade – but if you ever need a harp player who is into the deep blues and the country blues (both personified by my master Sonny Boy II), please do give me a shout.

"Remember, a gift of the Deep Blues is like a pardon from the governor"

Now please enjoy this special performance from my Master, Sonny Boy II and some funky friends …

FILEmag-Summer-1978_01

2011-12-23T09:24:00.001-08:00

FILEmag-Summer-1978_01, a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

FILE MAGAZINE VOL 4 NO 1 (SUMMER 1978) alternative to the Alternative Press, legendary Toronto collaborative General Idea's FILE Megazine – published from 1972 to 1989.

FILE magazine Summer-1978 General Idea

General Idea: FILE megazine, vol 4, issue 1, summer 1978 (the “1984: A Year in Pictures” issue), edition of 3,000 copies.

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General Idea, Fluxus, Mail Art, Ray Johnson and the importance of Art Magazines as the forerunners of Social Networking:

The first issues of FILE, the publication launched in April 1972 by the Toronto-based group General Idea (comprising artists AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal), leave a different, less sober impression than previous magazine-based Conceptual art projects. Lifting its name and logo from the most famous (and popular) postwar US glossy, Life, FILE clearly anticipated a strategy that today is an everyday youth-cultural ploy: namely, logo-busting, an ironic game with the powerful markers of consumer culture, a small act of semiotic subversion whereby one borrows power from the public side of capital--and momentarily uses it against itself.

For the better part of a century artists have been using the format of the periodical to create and disseminate their work. Yves Klein’s Leap Into the Void, another iconic work, was published in the artist’s broadsheet publication Dimanche, which was sold at Parisian newsstands in 1960. Artists' magazines were integral to numerous important movements, such as Conceptual Art, Mail Art, Performance Art, Intermedia, Concrete Poetry, Neo-Dadaism and Fluxus.

The name Fluxus was originally coined by George Maciunas for the title of a magazine of experimental notation that he had hoped to produce.

For the uninitiated, a simple distinction suffices: the “artist periodical” is a primary source and an “art magazine” is a secondary one. That is to say, whereas an art magazine features reproductions and documentation of artwork as illustrations, the artist periodical is an alternative site for the realization of art works rather than their review.

Like their cousins, artists’ books and multiples, artists’ periodicals were intended to be easily distributable, affordable and accessible. And now – much like artists’ books and multiples – they can be difficult to track down and often costly. Complete sets of FILE megazine can sell for upwards of $5,000. Depending on the issue, a single copy of Aspen magazine might sell for the same price. Putting together complete collections piecemeal is the artworld equivalent of collecting a complete set of baseball cards. Critical discourse, too, has been hard to come by; apart from a few key articles, very little has been published on the subject of artists’ magazines.

Publications by General Idea:
THIS IS A LIST OF PUBLICATIONS DESIGNED AND EDITED BY GENERAL IDEA
(Note: FILE Megazine was published by Art Official Inc. in varying edition sizes ranging from 1,500 to 3,500 copies)

A Side note about A.A. Bronson: He wrote …

TWENTY-TWO WOMEN TALK FRANKLY ABOUT THEIR ORGASMS
(Bronson, A.A.) Harrison, A.S.A. TWENTY-TWO WOMEN TALK FRANKLY ABOUT THEIR ORGASMS Toronto: Coachhouse Press, 1974 31 x 23cm, 78pp. Boards with pictorial dustjacket.

First edition of this feminist investigation of the female phenomenology of the orgasm (at the time such investigations were part of a concerted attempt to de-mystify female sexuality and empower women into exploring their bodies and, for some, enjoying sex for the first time). Verbatum texts of 22 different women explaining how they trigger and what they experience orgasms. This book was designed for Harrison by A.A. Bronson of General Idea who also contributes a short note of approval on the inside back dustjacket about his friend. The book is in part dedicated to General Idea. One of 2,500 published - this copy has a couple of tears on the edges of the dj and is slightly bowed but may interest not only those considering feminism in the 70s but also the association with Bronson and G.I.

=================
FILE MAGAZINE VOL 4 NO 1 (SUMMER 1978). Toronto: General Idea, 1978

35 X 27.5cm, 64pp plus pictorial wrappers. A single number from General Idea's art periodical where the trio published conceptual, mail and intermedia art including the GI's own work - often with a homoerotic element. This number has GI's "General Idea flees the burning pavilion in 1984" and several articles on Miss General idea 1984. One slight crease on the back cover and front lower-right corner and spine wear and, as ever, browned internal newsprint pages else VG+. Scarce.

1978

FILE Megazine ("1984: A Year in Pictures," Vol. 4, #1, summer 1978)

see also: FILEmag-Vol.4Nos.1-2-3_13a

GENERAL IDEA 1969-1994

An alternative to the Alternative Press, legendary Toronto collaborative General Idea's FILE Megazine --published from 1972 to 1989--

Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson of General Idea lived and worked together for 25 years. Partz and Zontal died in 1994. AA Bronson continues to work under his own name

The General Idea Archive is now on deposit at the National Gallery of Canada. You can access the finding aid here:
national.gallery.ca/english/library/biblio/ngc112.html

In 1974, General Idea founded Art Metropole, an organization devoted to collecting, publishing and distributing artists' books, multiples, audio and video.

Read about FILE Megazine in Artforum here:
www.aabronson.com/art/gi.org/artforum.htm

==================
www.panmodern.com/newobservations.html
Communities Collaged: Mail Art and The Internet

By Mark Bloch

(Originally appeared in New Observations)

NEW YORK June 6, 2000- Is it a coincidence that both international mail art and the Internet reached a critical mass in the late 1960s?

Mail art was expanding exponentially as ….

=======================

Jimi & Mick Taylor at Madison Square Garden Nov. 1969 Pt. II

2011-11-27T16:00:00.001-08:00

Jimi & MickTaylor xEthan Russell Nov. 1969, a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

There is more to this story as I post this on Jimi's birthday November 27 2011 – if Six was Nine he would have been 69!

This video, an official one, from Albert Maysles, is a back-in-time back story of what happened backstage:

Jimi Hendrix with the Rolling Stones / Rocks Off Message Board - Thanks Albert Maysles!

Pix and videos from the deserved Stu tribute with 4 out of the 6 surviving Stones Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood at

rocksoff.org/messageboard/YaBB.pl?num=1299688523;start=all

TRANSCRIPT COURTESY OF YOUTUBE USER "LIMEGINGER"

[5:51-5:54] Black guy [to Keith]: Well, like, no reaction. He went back to what he was talking about, so...

[5:54-5:56] Keith: Well, y'know, it's cool, y'know I, I [inaudible] we'll get it together.

[5:55-5:58] Black guy: Yeah yeah Ok (exits)

[6:00-6:07] Jimi: Been watching too many formal dinner parties on TV. Everybody HAS to do this. You HAVE to say [mock ass-kissing, bowing and scraping] "Oh yes, Mr richards--"

[6:07-6:12: laughter - inaudible chit chat]

[6:12-6:14: silence]

[6:15-6:18] Jimi: D'you know--? nah, I shouldn't ask [scratching his head, laughing]

[6:18-6:20: Keith and Jimi laughter]

[6:19-6:26] Jimi: I dunno that's a big [inaudible] ever since I seen you Monday. Have--? When's last t-ttime you see- s-seen [clears throat]. Naaah, I shouldn't--

[6:25-6:26] Keith: [inaudible]

[6:26-6:27] Jimi: No. What was the last time you seen Linda?

[6:28-6:34] Keith: Oh, man, a long time ago. I mean, I tell ya, uh, some time last summer in--

[6:34] Jimi: Yeah...

[6:35-6:38] Keith: --on the coast [inaudible]

[6:38-6:39] Jimi: Oh, that far? You ain't seen her here?

[6:39-6:44] Keith: I haven't seen her for [inaudible]...You?

[6:44-6:45] Jimi: No. No...

[6:46-6:48] Laughter - Keith smooshes affectionately into Jimi.

[6:48-6:53] Keith gets up and walks away

[6:48-6:51] Jimi: I been watching too much TV too.

[6:54-7:01] Jimi sits smoking.

For more information, pictures and everything about Jimi with the Rolling Stones, with much more about the takes of "My Little One", check http://rocksoff.org/jimi.htm

Roger Mayer w Jimi

2011-11-23T10:40:00.001-08:00

Roger Mayer w Jimi, a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

Roger Mayer, left, with Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and Noel Redding.

I just talked to Roger and he is doing well, still being a guru to countless tone-freaks far and wide. Big hugs from him and Connie!

Mark Bosch: Got to admit, I miss the ole boy and u too G-whiz! where is he living these days?

Noe the G: He sez he's in Kingston, the posh-ier part north of London. Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7DF, to be exact. Still salty as ever and Celebrated far and wide as a "FOJ" (Friend of Jimi):
www.roger-mayer.co.uk/history.htm

Guitar Effects Pedals by Roger Mayer - History
www.roger-mayer.co.uk

10-20-11:

Hey Rog,

It was ever so charming talking with you this a.m.

I think I'm gonna do up a blog entry just about you for old times' sake.

PS, Karin sez we have a couple of plane tickets for London, so we may be seeing you around Christmas time! Big hugs to Connie.

Attached are a couple-a pics I dug up from my "bin" I also have one of the Rocket done up as Eddie Van Halen's paint job and some more I'll be sending you. This one on Flickr can be accessed by this link:

www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/2568560928/in/set-721576...

Here's what it says on my Flickr page:

JimiGalaxyAd#2.jpg
P. 165 "Do You Know This Face? Then you know THIS Face. ... You know Roger Mayer's Classic Fuzz, the very same fuzz distortion circuit that Roger designed for Jimi Hendrix during his tenure as the master's sound technician ..." This is one of the ads I published in numerous music magazines of the mid-'80s in which I touted my Guitar Galaxy mail-order company. Guitar Galaxy continues to flourish today!

Vol. 9, No. 2 MARCH 1988 THE UNPUBLISHED HENDRIX
>"}}}}”> Noe Gold, aka Noe the G is the Founding Editor of Guitar World magazine. Among his most cherished achievements is the creation, with partner Bill Nitopi,curator of the Hendrix Collection Archives and an editor-at-large of Guitar World, of two humongous Special Issues: Vol. 6, No. 5 SEPTEMBER, 1985 SPECIAL JIMI HENDRIX TRIBUTE! and Vol. 9, No. 2 MARCH 1988 THE UNPUBLISHED HENDRIX. Noe Gold blogs at Doctor Noe's Smooth Gadgetdoctornoemedia.blogspot.com.
>"}}}}”> Subscribe! To, Doctor Noe's Smooth Gadget doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/
(and share with others!) at: feeds.feedburner.com/

Jimi & MickTaylor by Ethan Russell Nov. 1969

2011-11-15T18:11:00.001-08:00

Jimi & MickTaylor xEthan Russell Nov. 1969, a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

I believe that is Albert Maysles with the camera.

Here's a page from my Tribute to Jimi. We published stills from Albert Maysles' footage in Guitar World: The unpublished Hendrix Vol. II. That would be Guitar World March 1988, Special Issue. Hendrix Lives! Tribute to a Genius. The Unpublished Hendrix Vol. II. P. 33, "Backstage With the Stones."

Three of the four photos on the page (two of Jimi and Keith, two Jimi and Mick Taylor) were indeed stills from Maysles' unreleased footage. This is a fourth one by photographer Ethan Russell.

Now here is the kicker: Stones are going out on the road again next year, another "endless tour," but guess what? They will most likely include some guest spots on the tour by a very great-sounding Mick Taylor! Here is a video tribute to Ian Stewart featuring Ben Waters, Charlie Watts, Dave Green with Jools Holland, Ronnie Wood, Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman, Mick Hucknall and other guests at the Ambassadors Theatre 9 April 2011.

Here's Mick on his discography: "I played lead guitar for the Rolling Stones from 1969 till 1974 and played on some of the group's best albums, including "Let it Bleed," "Get Yer Ya Yas Out," "Sticky Fingers," "Exile On Main Street," "Goat's Head Soup" and great live bootlegs!

"My fluid lead guitar shaped some of the Stones' best songs and albums. Songs like "Honky Tonk Women," "Gimme Shelter," "Love In Vain," "Brown Sugar," "Sway," "Bitch," "Tumbling Dice," "Rocks Off," "Shine A Light," "Ventilator Blues," "Heartbreaker," "Coming Down Again," "Silver Train," "Star Star," "Time Waits For No One," "If You Can't Rock Me" – these all feature my lead and slide guitar contributions."

2011-10-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Halloween ...

... my updated essay on classic horror films entitled “Fear of Fright Night.” Wrote the original in 2001 for an AOL site called Entertainment Asylum. Find the page here. I wrote numerous pieces for Entertainment Asylum in my tenure as an AOL correspondent/content editor, but only this one was saved for posterity.

Flashforward to 2010, and I can now put up this considered reprise, recollected in tranquility entitled ...

FEAR OF FRIGHT NIGHT (redux)
Halloween Goes to the Movies

Watching Scary Movies in the relative safety of a theater with hundreds of other people around us will not turn us into raving, bloodthirsty lunatics. On the contrary, it's a cheap alternative to seeing a shrink.

By Noë Gold

1530 North Orange Grove Ave. across the street stood in for the Doyle residence, where Laurie was baby-sitting Tommy in "Halloween." Looking the same as when the movie was filmed there 30 years ago, except the brick pillars in the front are filled in with hedges. The panicked children ran from the house between the pillars and onto the street. Photo by Noë Gold

The Scary Movie of the nineties relies more on psychological terror than the obvious makeup-enhanced movies of that more innocent era. It deals with ordinary people in ordinary situations who come across a deviant like "Halloween's" Mike Myers. The suspense in H20 is more on account of the audience's expectations and the throbbing, spooky music than from any obvious monster. Mike Myers comes with a lot of baggage, and it's all hidden beneath that very ordinary white Halloween mask. The effect is much more chilling than Godzilla or Keith Richards could ever hope to be.

Why is this Scary cycle surfacing again now? On the surface, things are fairly stable in modern-day society. Crime statistics are down, the economy is whistling along and Charles Manson is tucked away neatly in prison with no hope of escape. So why do we flock to movies that scare the gizzards out of us? Because it gives us pleasure. When there are no real things to be scared of, we go to the movies to shake things up. In a weird way, it's therapeutic.

To illustrate this point, I call forth a reference in a seminal book by an author I used to know who taught me a lot about the genre, Carlos Clarens. On the frontispiece of his Illustrated History of the Horror Films, Carlos quotes sociologist Roland Penrose from his work, Violence in Contemporary Art: "The bogey of violence is particularly horrifying and intolerable to us when we meet it in cold blood. The arts, however, avoid its brutal impact by their appeal to the emotions, they warm us to its presence, turning terror into enjoyment and cruelty into compassion. We participate in the act of violence without suffering its evil consequences. Art, in fact, allows us, as in certain rituals, to satisfy our Olympian yearning to stimulate the forces of nature. Its nonviolent power has a therapeutic and catalytic influence."

So, watching Scary Movies in the relative safety of a theater with hundreds of other people around us will not turn us into raving, bloodthirsty lunatics. On the contrary, it's a cheap alternative to seeing a shrink. For the same reason we pay money and wait in long lines to ride the shriekiest roller coaster, we go to the movies to get our hair lifted. Steve Miner, who directed H20, says it this way: "My favorite scary film of all time was Psycho, which I could not sit through. I never saw the whole movie until I was an adult. Halloween I found reminiscent in spirit of that kind of movie: unrelentingly scary and suspenseful and atmospheric. I think people like to be scared because they can go to the edge without really being there."

Kevin Williamson, the Dawson's Creek director who wrote the screenplay of H20 as well as that of Scream, credits Halloween for what he is today. "Halloween is and always has been my favorite film of all time," he says. "It wasn't just a movie, it was an experience. ... The audience participation factor was one of the most incredible parts of the movie. The way the audience jumped and screamed at the characters on screen got my blood pumping. It was this effect in Halloween that made me realize that I wanted to be a filmmaker.

Okay, what about that "every twenty years" theory? It's no coincidence that the current Halloween is subtitled H20, since the original Halloween was released in 1978. That one put its director, John Carpenter, on the map and kicked off the career of Jamie Lee Curtis as well (it was her first feature film). H20 has among its co-stars Jamie Lee's mom, Janet Leigh, who was the star victim of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, released 18 years before Halloween in 1960 (and later to be redone in a faithful translation by Gus Van Sant). Carpenter's stated purpose in conceiving Halloween was that he wanted to create a picture that would play like a full-length version of the shower scene in Psycho.

Go back roughly twenty years from Psycho and you have the beginning of another Scary cycle in the early forties. A series of films produced by Val Lewton has a lot in common with what the Scary cycle of the nineties is going for - psychological horror with no monsters or creatures in sight. The great director Jacques Tourneur did more with camera angles, lighting and sound to chill the audience's bones with his masterpieces the original Cat People and his follow-up I Walked With a Zombie. I command you to go out and rent these right now so you can see what I mean.

The first of these twenty-year cycles, just to round out my argument, goes back to Germany in the twenties. You won't be able to rent Paul Weggener's Student of Prague or his series of films about the Golem, a vengeful Jewish monster who haunted Czechoslovakia. But there is also The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, the original vampire story (with Max Schreck as the Vampire). And rounding out the cycle is The Hands of Orlac, with Caligari's Conrad Veidt, about a concert pianist who has the hands of a murderer grafted on after he loses his in an accident. The fright genre moved (along with a number of German filmmakers escaping the Nazis) to America for its next cycle, and it is also no great coincidence that another one of these German exports, Peter Lorre, made his American film debut in 1935 in a remake of Orlac called Mad Love, another one that you must rent or seek out on cable TV.

Which is all to say that what comes around goes around in the world of roller coasters and Scary Movies. Now that I have given you a quick sense of its history, it's a good time to grab a ride.

PS, there’s also a neato keeno compendium of creature features here on the same site:

http://www.angelfire.com/ma/babybrownsplace/articles/articles.html

.... and in this photo gallery from The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/iconic-horror-movies-32472

also ...

PHOTOS: Scream Awards 2011: Red Carpet and Show Photos

Bryan Ferry Lets It Rock ... again

2011-10-12T11:22:00.001-07:00

Bryan Ferry_LetItRock_cov, a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

Bryan Ferry "Cherry-Poppin'' Stories

I'll go first:

I anticipate Bryan's show at the Greek Theater Oct. 15.

My favorite Roxy show of many was in a little town in Lorraine (Salzbourg, actually), France, circa 1974. The band played in a high school gym, which they transported to the sophisticated realms of Radio City once the music started. I think I wrote about it in my piece on the trip for Crawdaddy, but being now a denizen of the"aging crowd," I can't find this piece of writing anywhere except in the smoke dreams of my mind.

This just in!

I did go to the concert and grabbed this little snippet of Chris Spedding on vid.

... to which Bruce Malamut adds the following comment:

"I remember you also liked Spedding's first three solo albums Songs Without Words, Backwoods Progression (recorded in-between Nilsson Schmilsson sessions) and The Only Lick I Know. Spedding is copious!"

Like Ferry, I like to think I have aged like a fine wine.

But the ultimate erudite benediction comes from the great Bruce Malamut, of the Kings Crown Radio (WKCR) mavens and the Crawdaddy Magazine punters – what are you, some kinda rock crit or sump'n?:

"Style + Substance, well hell yeah – the thrill of it all! I saw Roxy play The 100 Club London, June, '71 and was floored by the hooks, the asymmetries, the film noir refs, the pounding pose of ennui and anti-romanticism, electronic sheen and wailing sax ... oboe, even – these guys screamed avant-garde, loud, hard rock, but I just fully dug the hooks!

"Then the first album was released in '72 and it became clear to all – some of the best players in UK in one band tossing off hooks and choruses effortlessly – sweet! I give it an A- for Side One, which was Ferry's full-tilt rock, and A+ for Side Two, which debuted Eno's virtual keyboard world. There seemed a palpable tension between these two guys live – each a forceful leader in his own right – and it was clear on their first album as well. One of them might need to leave this band, I'd thought, and chart his own path. To me, Roxy the band is far from Brian the singer.

"Roxy the band is the drug for me – look no further than Mackay's wailing sax, the Great Paul Thompson's brutal beats (similar, yet just a few yards to the left of John Bonham's) but mostly the uncredited compositions and bold guitar work of Phil Manzanera. I think people sell Phil's "real time" composing short – true, Bryan would write a new lyric so it's "his song" and bring it to the band – but what the band, invariably lead by Phil, did with a new Ferry song was to de- and re- construct it into a wholly different beast than Bryan had first proposed. This process changed Ferry's songs musically, thus thematically too, marking them as 100% Pure Uncut Roxy Music.

"Their first U.S. tour, they naturally came up to WKCR-FM (how could they not??) for a delightful evening including a white-copy spin of For Your Pleasure. Members present were Ferry, Manzanera, Eno, Mackay (The Great), Thompson.

"In a six-hour interview, one gets a fair impression of one's guests. Everyone endorsed the theory of how Phil is Bryan's equal in the band's composition process, but that's as much as they'd give at least on this First U.S. tour. A fun time was had. Phil and I discovered that we were raised a stone's throw from each other– most unexpected news!

"–B:)"

OK, so now flashforward to 2011. I come across this great photo by Lorenzo Lessi, taken on July 28, 2011.

Bryan Ferry Live at Bolgheri Melody

I am lovin' this one. Bryan is playing blues harp through a hand-held mike.

• My cousin Larry, who is five years my junior, had this response:

"You know. Sorry I missed it.. I knew he was coming , Shyster.

"He is great. … I just read yesterday's article in the Financial Times. He is a wine schmecker

"Anyway, Noë, what I do remember, is that a long time ago, I was at your house on 95th street when I first saw that album. You might have even opened it in front me, with the hot girls [Country Life].

"I was really young. That's where I got my first exposure to Roxy Music.

"It is still fresh in my mind."

• Erika Anderson, from the road, on tour, has this to say:

"I would love to go to that show. ... He keeps playing the same theaters we are but we're always about a week off!"

Roy Buchanan, of blessed memory

2011-09-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Born on this day in 1939

Roy Buchanan (September 23, 1939 – August 14, 1988), an American guitarist and blues musician, was a pioneer of the Telecaster sound. Despite never having achieved stardom, he is still considered a highly influential guitar player. Ranked #57 on the Rolling Stone list "100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time," Guitar Player praised him as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of all Time."

Robert Johnson&Johnny Shines1935RAW

2011-03-15T09:33:00.001-07:00

Robert Johnson&Johnny Shines1935RAW a photo by Doctor Noe on Flickr.

Today's blog entry will be a quote from my discussion on this with some Facebook friends:

Hey Kicha, thanks. You might be interested in this response to a post on my Facebook page:

Noe Gold
Here is a link to the 2008 Vanity Fair article about the image, and yes there the pic is on that page. It is a 5-page article, detailing not just Robert's life and times, but the lawsuits over the past 40 years over who controls the rights to Robert's estate:

www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/11/johnson200811

Searching for Robert Johnson
www.vanityfair.com
In the seven decades since his mysterious death, bluesman Robert Johnson’s legend has grown—the tragically short life, the “crossroads” tale of supernatural talent, the genuine gift that inspired Dylan, Clapton, and other greats—but his image remains elusive: only two photos of Johnson have ever been found - until now.

Ed Supple, Heather Harris, Carolyne Mas and 3 others like this.
Heather Harris thanks for posting this, definitely of interest

Shelley Mitchell The whole Robert Johnson 'deal-with-the-devil' legend is right up my alley.. LOVE this stuff--THANKS!!!!

Simon Nisbet If it wasn't for Robert J Zeppelin would have to of written their own lyrics. ;-)

Heather Harris ‎@Shelley, you would enjoy his site doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/ as Noe has quite the unusual takes on rock and classic rock. I've only caught up with it recently and it's great fun to read our most outre rock musings written by a pro with such panache.

Shelley Mitchell Thanks Heather! I just took a quick preliminary glance, and you're right--this is something I will enjoy reading. I know you know music HISTORY is my real forte.. just love the OLD stuff, and the older I get, the more I like it!!!

Heather Harris the good stuff wears well, which is why I'm always interested in NEW good stuff happening, to replenish future supplies...

Noe Gold Thank you Heather. Now if only some more enthusiasts would buy my Roy Buchanan DVD I might be able to put up some more brilliant commentary.

Heather Harris This will cheer you up: cuttin' heads!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0QKbnCDW94

Noe Gold Yes! and even more amusing is the YouTube comments by theguitar dweebs over who is the "best guitar player." Funny thing is, inthisclip, STeve VAi was hired to playboth guitar parts – theDevils MusicMAn that he plays in the movie and the Fender-sporting Ralph Macchio kid who represents the down home-inspired licksters.

Heather Harris I thought Ry Cooder did the Ralph M slide parts: I learn something every day. I love the fact that this scene uses music solely as the narrative.

Noe Gold Here is the skinny, with some fascinating trivia about the movie here:
Trivia for
Crossroads (1986) More at IMDbPro »

www.imdb.com/title/tt0090888/trivia
Steve Vai played both sides of the guitar duel, while acting as Jack Butler, the devil's guitarist. Ry Cooder recorded the slide parts and produced the soundtrack.

Noe Gold This is a gem:
"Eugene's Trick Bag", the updated classical piece at the climax of the film, is largely based on Niccolo Paganini's Caprice #5. Paganini, as the pervading myth has it, sold his soul to the devil for his musical skills. Steve Vai, as 'Jack Butler', replicates Paganini's legendary rolling eyes, long unkempt hair and gaunt stature.
And Paganini is Yngwie Malmsteen's hero, but that is another story :)

===================

Hey Kicha, here's more. Think it is worthy of a blog post?

Shelley Mitchell I loved that 'cuttin' heads' part of the article, it really appeals to my macabre sensibilities. Never heard of that before--I learn something new every day, too! Always been a rock n' roller, with a whole lotta (old) pop and soul thrown in as well--but here lately, I've been starting to cultivate a greater interest in blues stuff than ever before. Known for years that Robert Johnson was probably THE single most influential old master of all, but just now beginning to really explore that whole realm. Rock's most prominent ancestor!

John Lynch: Cutting heads if speaking of competitive jamming or stealing a gig from the people on the stand, etc. is pretty old. I don't know if the article has the latest update on the litigation, Rupert Murdoch one after establishing that Johnson had sold his soul and everything else to him.

Noe Gold
OK, now I'll fill you in on something the Guitar World and Vanity Fair articles only touched on. Jimi was a self-acknowledged heir to Robt. Johnson's legacy as well:

Jimi Hendrix: The Complete January 1967 Interview With Steve Barker

jasobrecht.com/jimi-hendrix-london-complete-january-1967-...

" ... I turned up to see Jimi at his flat on Montague Square, cassette recorder and one cassette in hand. He was friendly and relaxed through the chat. His girlfriend – I assume Kathy Etchingham – drifted in and out. There was a huge stack of vinyl records. On top was Robert Johnson’s King of the Delta Blues Singers and under that a Lenny Bruce album. ..."

Steve Barker: What are the main influences in your music?

Jimi Hendrix: Well, I don’t have any right now. I used to like Elmore James and early Muddy Waters and stuff like that – Robert Johnson and all those old cats.

Do you feel any heritage from the old bluesmen?

No, ’cause I can’t even sing! When I first started playing guitar is was way up in the Northwest, in Seattle, Washington. They don’t have too many of the real blues singers up there. When I really learned to play was down South. Then I went into the Army for about nine months, but I found a way to get out of that. When I came out I went down South and all the cats down there were playing blues, and this is when I really began to get interested in the scene.
===================================
John Lynch also points out that ...

John Lynch: Well and King appears on the cover of Dylan's Bringin It All Back Home along with Lotte Lenya, the Impressions, Eric von Schmidt

Noe Gold: You are a gent and a blues scholar, John!

John Lynch: Just loved the stiuff a long time . . . I wish I had a copy of a letter I wrote a friend after discovering Robert Johnson.

Roy Buchanan's "Nancy" - necking with a guitar

2010-05-12T20:47:00.001-07:00

Roy Buchanan's "Nancy" above the nut
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

I got a call from Roy's nephew the other day, after he bought my DVD. He has posted some cool video about Roy here and here.

If you want a little taste of the DVD – a try before you buy, if you will – just go here.

Thanks for the tip o the hat. When I interviewed Marty Scorsese last year in the Hollywood Reporter, he was all about paying tribute to Roy (and Roy's protege Robbie Robertson) when he used "Sweet Dreams" for the soundtrack of "The Departed," that little old movie he made in Boston with Jack and Leo ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDDVf1AhNPY

Jim Marshall R.I.P.

2010-03-25T09:15:00.001-07:00

JimiBlackStratJimMarshall_1048
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

“This shot of Jimi was taken during a soundcheck at the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967. Jimi was playing to an empty arena — or, more accurately, to himself. I was one of the official photographers and, for some reason, everyone was at dinner except Al Kooper, Jimi's band and crew, and some of the other stage hands. I approached Jimi and told him my name was Jim Marshall — that I was one of the photographers. He made some comment like, 'Far out, man, maybe this shit is supposed to be,' and I asked what he meant. He said the dude who made his amps was named Jim Marshall, and smart-ass me says, 'Yeah, I know that.' But then he said, 'What you don't know is that my middle name is Marshall.' We were all pretty stoned (the amp Marshall wasn't there), but there were three Marshalls onstage at once.”
—Jim Marshall

Jerry Seidenfeld at Newport '65 by Dave Gahr

2010-03-15T09:52:00.001-07:00

Jerry Seidenfeld at Newport '65 by Dave Gahr
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

He's sleeping it off the day after we saw Dylan go electric!

I was there too, at Newport '65. My buddy Jerry Seidenfeld is sleeping it off on a cot on page 20 of Dave Gahr's "Festival Songbook" (a whole drawerful of Dylan prints Dave gave me were stolen from my garage in Santa Monica years later.)

True dat about the crowd reaction. From where I was standing (in the rear) I thought they were all yelling, "Down in front!"

To quote Dylan, "There was magic in the air."

Scrapper Blackwell

2010-03-09T17:37:00.001-08:00

Scrapper Blackwell
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Someone ought to submit Scrapper's story to Unsolved Crimes ...

In 1962, he was ready to resume his blues career when he was shot and killed during a mugging in an Indianapolis alley. He was 59 years old. Although the crime remains unsolved, police arrested his neighbor at the time for the murder. Blackwell is buried in New Crown Cemetery, Indianapolis.

Scrapper Blackwell (February 21, 1903 – October 7, 1962) was an American blues guitarist and singer; best known as half of the guitar-piano duo he formed with Leroy Carr in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was an acoustic single-note picker in the Chicago blues and Piedmont blues style, with some critics noting that he veered towards jazz.

Kokomo Blues

Scrapper Blackwell also made solo recordings for Vocalion, including "Kokomo Blues" which was transformed into "Old Kokomo Blues" by Kokomo Arnold before being redone as "Sweet Home Chicago" by Robert Johnson.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CZEGJfes1c

"The Catcher in the Bourbon," a parody

2010-02-15T13:37:00.001-08:00

Catcher College Monthly spreadLO
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

I edited this story back in 1974, and commissioned the art, etc. Our little publication was only limited to two highly collectible issues and was seen by not many people, but some of the things in this issue especially are memorable and – it turns out, highly prescient.

This parody of "Catcher" by Bill Majeski is a case in point. And then there is the cover story by Nat Hentoff on Lenny Bruce and a nice article on Miles Davis, bebop and new jazz by moi.

I've created a deluxe limited edition, signed and numbered, of this Salinger tribute. It's a collector's edition, based on a facsimile of the original, printed on TWO SHEETS OF 11" x 17" PREMIUM CARD STOCK.

Please contact me at noemedia@pacbell.net and I will send you info on how to get one.

This is a parody published by College Monthly October 1974.
© 2010 noemedia.
© 1974. All rights reserved under international conventions. No material may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

Cover photo by Basil Pao
With retouching by Rainbow Graphics, body by Doug, hand by Noë of New York. T-shirt by Harry Gross; photo by UPI, lighting by Chris Callis, and body English by Tom King.

J.D. Salinger R.I.P.

2010-02-15T11:59:00.001-08:00

J.D. Salinger New Yorker Feb. 8 10 P.21
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

This excellent essay is from The New Yorker. February 8, 2010.

www.newyorker.com/talk/2010/02/08/100208ta_talk_gopnik

Postscript
J. D. Salinger
by Adam Gopnik

J. D. Salinger’s long silence, and his withdrawal from the world, attracted more than the usual degree of gossip and resentment—as though we readers were somehow owed more than his words, were somehow owed his personal, talk-show presence, too—and fed the myth of the author as homespun religious mystic. Yet though he may seem to have chosen a hermit’s life, Salinger was no hermit on the page. And so his death throws us back from the myth to the magical world of his writing as it really is, with its matchless comedy, its ear for American speech, its contagious ardor and incomparable charm. Salinger’s voice—which illuminated and enlivened these pages for two decades—remade American writing in the fifties and sixties in a way that no one had since Hemingway. (The juvenilia of most American writers since bear the mark of one or the other.) But if it had been Hemingway’s role to make American writing hardboiled, it was Salinger’s to let it be soft, even runny, again. ....

And this just in ...

Salinger and Lennon: A Fatal Distraction
Posted by Simon Warner
on Rock's Back Pages

www.rocksbackpagesblogs.com/2010/01/salinger-and-lennon-a...

Jerry Seidenfeld at Newport '65 by Dave Gahr

2010-02-06T14:37:00.001-08:00

Jerry Seidenfeld at Newport '65 by Dave Gahr
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

I was there too, at Newport '65. My buddy Jerry Seidenfeld is sleeping it off on a cot on page 20 of Dave Gahr's "Festival Songbook" (a whole drawerful of Dylan prints Dave gave me were stolen from my garage in Santa Monica years later.)

True dat about the crowd reaction. From where I was standing (in the rear) I thought they were all yelling, "Down in front!"

To quote Dylan, "There was magic in the air."

This is my reaction to a post about Bob Dylan at Newport, 1965:

http://carnivalsaloon.blogspot.com/2010/02/bob-dylan-at-newport-1965.html

"... I've just finished reading White Bicycles, Joe Boyd's excellent memoir of the 60s ("I was there, I do remember"). The record producer and self-proclaimed éminence grise was one of the organisers of the infamous 1965 Newport Fok Festival when Bob Dylan plugged in and blew dust from the ears of thousands of folkies ...

... My favourite anecdote is when Dylan returned to play two acoustic songs after pissing off the folk faithful with the Butterfield Blues Band. He asked the audience, "Has anyone have an E harmonica? Anyone? An E harmonica?" As Boyd writes, "Only at Newport would this request be followed by a shower of half a dozen harmonicas on to the stage". You can hear them all thud in this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvrlniDO5oo

... Boyd puts forward a good argument that this was rock's Year Zero. "Some loved it, some hated it, most were amazed, astonished and energized by it. It was something we take for granted now, but utterly novel then: non-linear lyrics, an attitude of total contempt fot expectation and established values, accompanied by screaming blues guitar and a powerful rhythm section, played at ear-splitting volume by young kids. The Beatles were still singing love songs in 1965 while the Stones played a brand of blues-rooted pop. This was different. This was the Birth of Rock."

If Joe Boyd is correct then this was arguably the most important gig in music history.

wikipedia: In the summer of 1965, as the headliner at the Newport Folk Festival, Dylan performed his first electric set since his high school days with a pickup group drawn mostly from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, featuring Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Sam Lay (drums) and Jerome Arnold (bass), plus Al Kooper (organ) and Barry Goldberg (piano). Dylan had appeared at Newport in 1963 and 1964, but in 1965 Dylan, met with a mix of cheering and booing, left the stage after only three songs. As one version of the legend has it, the boos were from the outraged folk fans whom Dylan had alienated by appearing, unexpectedly, with an electric guitar. An alternative account claims audience members were merely upset by poor sound quality and a surprisingly short set.

2-6-10:

From that original post by Nigel Smith:

Laurence J. said ...

I was there...rode up on a '64 BSA 650 Lightning...other electric acts performed without problem - Howlin' Wolf, for example - and really, the crowd reaction wasn't negative: just as many cheers as boos. The Forest Hills concert about a month later was a real riot; fans rushing the stage, fights breaking out in the audience. At Newport the sound was the real problem (and Jerome Arnold missing a change in "Maggie's Farm"). ...
________________

On a personal note re Newport '65: The performance by Mel Lyman at a harmonica workshop was where I miraculously learned how to play harmonica. From that day on, it all fell into place and I became the virtuoso that I am today. If you google Mel you will find some Rolling Stone articles about his leading a cult. Well, he did have some powers.

Noe by Shanghai Sky

2010-01-16T00:36:00.001-08:00

Noe
Originally uploaded by Shanghai Sky

One of the benefits of having Flickr friends is you have scouts all over the world.

Kodi & Viggo Venice 9-09

2009-12-27T01:05:00.001-08:00

Kodi & Viggo Venice 9-09
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

You know, I really do not care for the tastemakers who have already dismissed this film for serious Oscar consideration. For me, it was the most important film of 2009, dealing as it did with this incredible relationship of a father and his son.
Profile in LA Family Mag Nov. 2009 by Noe Gold:

Here's a link to my article in our recent LA Family Magazine November issue in the new "V-Mag" format, a profile of young acting sensation Kodi Smit-McPhee:
www.webpublished.com/gallery/view.asp?seq=107914&page...

Young Actor Spotlight
Kodi Smit-McPhee, "The Road
By Noe Gold

When Viggo Mortensen read the script for "The Road," a film in which he portrays a father who wanders with his son, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, through a devastated landscape after the earth has imploded, he thought it would be a good picture if they found the right 12-year-old to play the boy.

"Dramatically or practically speaking, I thought, 'Well, they need to find the best young actor in the world to play this part,' he says. "No matter how well it's shot, how well it's cast, if the boy – who is at the center of the story really – isn't extraordinary, it can only be a good movie, at best."

Now that the movie is finished and about to be released, Mortensen acts like he is the one who had something to learn from this neophyte. "I don't think anyone could have done it better than the way Kodi has played the character. He's an extraordinary actor. His performance will be a historic performance, I think, honestly that it's going to be one of those that people remember for years … for years."

That is praise indeed coming from an actor who has garnered his share of awards, and who is being talked up himself as a favorite for Oscar gold this year.

Kodi Smit-McPhee got the world's attention in 2007 after starring opposite Eric Bana and Franka Potente in the critically acclaimed "Romulus, My Father," for which he received the Australian Film Institute's Young Actor Award and was also nominated for the Institute's Best Lead Actor prize.

The young thespian – he was born June 13, 1996 – comes from an acting family. His older sister Sianoa is an actress and Kodi's father Andy has appeared in dozens of films and television shows in his native Australia and serves as his children's acting coach. He was on the set of "The Road" constantly, guiding his son through some difficult scenes. Besides acting, Kodi enjoys skateboarding and making music on his computer.

Editor's Note in LA Family Mag Nov. 2009 by Noe Gold:

Here's a link to my Editor's Note in our recent LA Family Magazine November issue in the new "V-Mag" format, giving thanks for the movie "The Road":

www.webpublished.com/gallery/view.asp?seq=107914&page...

And here's a link to my write-up in the new Family Movie Guide Sneaks feature in the LA Family Magazine November issue in the new "V-Mag" format, in which we recommend the movie "The Road":

www.webpublished.com/gallery/view.asp?seq=107914&page...

The Road
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Charlize Theron with Robert Duvall; Directed by John Hillcoat
The Weinstein Co.

Based on Cormac McCarthy's beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen leads an all-star cast in the big-screen adaptation of The Road, the epic post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a father and his young son across a barren landscape that was blasted by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed civilization and most life on earth. This is not for the kids, but we recommend it here because it is an absolute chiller of a tale of the devotion of parenthood. Destined for Oscar greatness for Mortensen. See our profile of young Scott-McPhee in this Family Entertainment section.

2009-10-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

My interview with Mick and Keith
By Noë Gold

Finally, it can be posted under my name. You see, when you go here, for some reason it says the article is by Andy Hunsaker, and then below that it says it's by me. Who the fuck is Andy Hunsaker anyway?
Anyway, the Flickr post above gives you a tease, an excerpt of Keef's wit regarding his adulation of Mr. Guy. ...

Noe Gold: Speaking of that, after your number with Buddy Guy, Buddy carries your guitar off the stage. I don’t know how he did it but he got Buddy Guy to be your guitar carrier at the end of the shot.
 Keith Richards: What happens there is that I give Buddy Guy my guitar. And you haven’t heard the overdub because I hand Buddy Guy my guitar and say, “It’s yours.” That’s the point there. (laughs) I had to do the voiceovers in Barcelona for Marty because we didn’t quite pick it up on the stage. I handed Buddy my Gibson guitar and said, “Hey Buddy, this is yours.” I’m happy to clear that one up. No way would I ever ask Buddy Guy to carry my guitar, man!  KM-079 Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur (Left to right) Buddy Guy, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts performing onstage at the Beacon Theater during the Rolling Stones concert film “Shine A Light.”
Paramount Classics in Association with Concert Productions International and Shangri-La Entertainment Presents A Martin Scorsese Picture “Shine a Light” starring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. The film is directed by Martin Scorsese. The producers are Victoria Pearman, Michael Cohl, Zane Weiner and Steve Bing. The executive producers are Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. This film has been rated PG-13 for brief strong language, drug references and smoking. © 2008 by WPC Piecemeal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

... So here's another one for the ages: I'm going to pste the entire double interview with the Glimmers right here:

Fancast Interview: Mick Jagger & Keith Richards Shine A Light On Their Latest Documentary

By Noë Gold Fancast.com

Beginning in August 2005, the Rolling Stones spent two years the globe on their “Bigger Bang” tour, taking in more than $580 million. Director Martin Scorsese captured two nights on film [watch him direct] when the band stopped at New York’s intimate Beacon Theater. The shows featured different set lists and guests Buddy Guy, Jack White, and Christina Aguilera. The effort turned into the documentary Shine A Light, which critic Roger Ebert said “may the most intimate documentary ever made about a live rock ‘n’ roll concert.” Fancast contributor Noe Gold spoke to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards about the film, which the Stones’ seemingly ageless frontman originally envisioned focusing on their free concert on the beach in Rio. “It was going to be a big event, a million people on the beach, a huge audience, a big occasion,” said Jagger. “And then we started to think, if we’re going to do this, we might as well start with a really top-flight filmmaker, even if we don’t get one, it’s good to start at the top, you know? (laughs). And so then we started thinking about who could do this and so on. I was talking to Martin Scorsese about another film project, and we said, well let’s ask Marty, because we know he’s actually not shooting at this period. So we asked Marty and he said he’d love to shoot the Rolling Stones concert. That’s the sort of short version.
Shine A Light [watch the trailer]:

NG: And then you got to work? Jagger: Then we had a meeting with Marty in where we had a sit-down in New York where I chatted with him – it was this stunning meeting in my hotel room. There was a storm, the wind was blowing, there was a window that wouldn’t close and the curtains were blowing and the chandeliers were wobbling and everything and we’re all sort of laughing about it. So we talked about shooting in 3-D, and shooting in Imax, whatever. Because it was such a big event. I was focused on this big event because I thought it was different.
Marty seemed very excited by this idea, but then on the next meeting, he came back and said, he’d been thinking about it and what he really wanted to do was shoot something more intimate. So we’d come around completely — I’d gone from a million people … and he’d gone to … something small. So I said, you know Marty, the other problem is, we don’t have any intimate places booked on the tour. We have lots of not-intimate places but we don’t have an intimate place. We have a fully booked tour schedule — you know, how are we going to do this? And he had to convince me – he said, this is my kind of forté, is to shoot these intimate things.

Keef Brings out the 12-string on the rare “As Tears Go By”

NG: You’re no stranger to working to working with auteur filmmakers. Jean-Luc Godard for one, Robert Frank … Richards: and “Hail, Hail Rock and Roll” – Taylor Hackford. To me, this one is on a par with that one. It’s different because it’s a Stones show but – a very superior rock and roll film.  NG: What’s different about prepping for a big concert in a big arena from a small filmed theater show. Jagger: That’s just part of the bigger question. Because it’s a film to watch in a movie house or on a DVD. So it’s not just for a theater audience. It’s got its own aesthetic. You’re not going to do the same show that you do in a big place. The problem was, we didn’t have a theater show on this tour. In the previous tour we’d had a theater show. In other words we’d had a set list that was different for theater which featured different numbers, It was more intimate. These had to all be invented. And then, the other thing was it’s always nice in a film like this to have guest artists. So you had to think about them, what kind of numbers are they going to sing and what can they do. How’s that all going to dovetail into the rest of it. So it’s not just think of a set list per se. It’s think of a movie set list of the presentation.
NG: Keith, what did you want the movie-going audience to get that a live arena show audience might not get? Richards: Actually to me, what was really intriguing was getting Marty’s take on it, and his vision of it. I mean, I’ve been in a lot of Stones films, and I don’t often see them. To me, the really intriguing thing was that Martin Scorsese wanted to do something like that, and I thought, well, he must have something in mind that is like beyond the usual sort of video scan, the usual stuff. So I really wanted to find out what Marty wanted.

Marty and his twin auteurs

NG: How did you come up with the guest artist list for the show? Jagger: We’d always worked well with Buddy Guy. We’d played with Buddy Guy before and we always admired him, and he was always good to play with on stage. We thought that would be good with our connection with the blues. And we always liked playing with him. He’s an easy guy to work with and he always delivers well on stage. And then I thought that Jack White, I’ve always liked him. We played concerts with him before and I knew him a bit, and I knew that that would work quite well. I thought we’d do this slightly different so instead of it being a kind of really raunchy rock scene we’d take it in a slightly different direction. And Christina Aguilera, she’s a great singer and everything, so I knew she would put in a good performance and so that’s how it worked.
NG: Keith, you said that you could recite Martin Scorsese’s dialogue. Another great segué that he did was when you guys had Jack White up there in this three-way acoustic guitar jam. Mick was playing an acoustic and Jack was playing with a slide, and then he segues to you on a 12-string for “As Tears Go Bye” Richards: How many times have we all watched fingers going up and down fretboards? The thing that Marty did with it was he turned the observation into a Rembrandt. It shows the beauty of the guitars themselves. It wasn’t just who was playing them. It was the loving shots of the instruments themselves, which I found very, very, very nice.

Noë Gold wrote these.

NG: Speaking of that, after your number with Buddy Guy, Buddy carries your guitar off the stage. I don’t know how he did it but he got Buddy Guy to be your guitar carrier at the end of the shot. Richards: What happens there is that I give Buddy Guy my guitar. And you haven’t heard the overdub because I hand Buddy Guy my guitar and say, “It’s yours.” That’s the point there. (laughs) I had to do the voiceovers in Barcelona for Marty because we didn’t quite pick it up on the stage. I handed Buddy my Gibson guitar and said, “Hey Buddy, this is yours.” I’m happy to clear that one up. No way would I ever ask Buddy Guy to carry my guitar, man!
NG: Brilliant. So that brings me to my final question, a kind of auteur filmmaker question: How does the experience of going before Martin Scorsese’s cameras compare to being “documented” by such auteurs as Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Frank, The Maysles Brothers, Peter Whitehead, Hal Ashby? Jagger: Yeah, the comparison is kind of valid I think. But you know quite a lot of those people were actually doing documentaries, and this is mostly a concert movie. They’re all great filmmakers, the ones that you mention. I think that Marty is a wonderful filmmaker and I’ve known him for some time. And I think he really has a great passion for this. It’s not something he just … tosses off in a week so to speak as a bit of fun thing. He’s very involved, super-involved in the editing, getting it just right. They’re still working on it to the last minute. He’s fantastically devoted to detail, which is very important in this, and to the concept of it before rather than any kind of … you know he hated the idea of winging it, as you could see with the set list. But in all the post-production he is extremely careful, he wants to get everything right and get the maximum emotion out of it, get the all the relationships, work on all that as hard as he can. So I think that he’s a great guy to work with. And he’s very very cooperative. He’s not a person who dictates to you or takes the sort of high ground in knowledge or anything like that and listens to your points and either takes them or doesn’t take them. He’s very cooperative.

Polaroid devotees bring back film - thestar.com

2009-10-14T23:04:00.001-07:00

Yippie Ki Yi Yay, mofo!

Polaroid devotees bring back film - thestar.com

Shared via AddThis

You are Welcome

2009-10-10T11:48:00.001-07:00

You are Welcome
Originally uploaded by elena bordignon

The picture says it all.

You are Welcome
by Marion Peck

© All rights reserved

Anyone can see this photo
• Taken on May 10, 2009
• Viewed 145 times

Uploaded by elena bordignon on 10 May 09, 5.45AM PDT.
Still trying to find out who Marion Peck is but wherever she is, I thank her for this beautiful image. I found it here ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elenabordignon/

... and I intend to query Elena about more about the artist and how she came to be posted on Elena's Flickr page. If I hear back that this is not a good post, I will remove it!

– Noe the G.

Les Paul: The World Has Lost a Remarkable Innovator and Musician

2009-08-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Les Paul
June 9, 1915 - August 13, 2009

www.lespaulonline.com is running snippets of what it calls "The Les Paul Show." You should really go there to check it out. It's snippets of sounds ... Les joking with Mary, bits of Beck, Steve Miller and whoever of the thousands owes this man a debt.

Les Paul
Originally uploaded by BigFrank

Photo by my Flickr mate "Big Frank" Caico (http://www.frankcaico.net/Blog) on August 24, 2008.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigfrank/

Noe+GWcrewLesPaulMahwahNJ.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

I wish I could turn this sad news into a smile. Here is what Les would say to that:

REST IN PEACE, LES!

Beatles-Butcher_Cover

2009-08-03T11:27:00.001-07:00

Beatles-Butcher_Cover
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Right now, at the Fullerton Museum Center (301 N. Pomona Ave, Fullerton Ca. 92832 (714) 738-6545), where Roy Buchanan's Telecaster, which he called Nancy is on exhibit in the Leo Fender Gallery through 2010 in a show called “Solid Design: Leo Fender’s Telecaster,” the current exhibit in the main gallery is “The 100 Worst Album Covers.” You can also find this Beatles album cover along with Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, some Jackie Gleason LPs and more artifacts that may or may not be silly, disgusting or just plain pop culture kitsch. The nice thing about all this -- for me, anyway -- is that it all ties in neatly to my weltanshauung. I am such a weltanshauung kind of guy, you see. That's why they call me Doctor Noe.

http://www.cityoffullerton.com/depts/museum/calendar.asp

You can find my Roy Buchanan Telly Talk DVD constantly playing on the far right of this picture (yup, that's my boy Dylan glued to the tube watching his daddy's creation) ...

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

2009-07-19T12:45:00.001-07:00

Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

My interview with this talented lad is here.
Remember him from 3rd Rock?

The former child star is having a great Summer.
July 16, 2009

By: Noe Gold
Fandango Film Commentator

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in (500) days of Summer.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been pulling on heartstrings ever since he sprang upon the scene as a child actor looking for approval from Danny Glover in the baseball movie Angels in the Outfield and as a kid looking up to Robert Redford and Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It.. He made his bones as a young TV actor as a “3rd Rock from the Sun” regular, moving on to more serious fare opposite Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You. By the time he worked with director Kimberly Peirce in the war drama Stop-Loss, Gordon-Levitt assumed the mantle of a serious contender. Now he’s got the big-budget G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra later this summer and three movies coming in 2010.

But first, in (500) Days of Summer, it is Gordon-Levitt who has his heartstrings pulled when he falls for a quirky girl (Zooey Deschanel) who doesn’t believe in love. We talked with the young actor about making this indie romance that’s alternative programming for those not into Harry Potter this weekend, and whistling – and dancing – while you work as the film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Fandango: Your last few films have been very serious. What was it like playing for euphoria with a director like first-timer Mark Webb?
Gordon-Levitt: I loved the script when I read it. It wasn't until I met Mark Webb that I knew this was going to be awesome. Because he comes from music videos, he uses music really well. The movie has this real whimsy to it. He plays music on the set all the time. A lot of the scenes that we shoot actually he's playing music while we're doing it.

Fandango: What differentiates this film from your other movies?
Gordon-Levitt: Normally, it's difficult for me to watch a movie that I'm in. This one was an anomaly in that the first time I watched it I enjoyed it and started smiling. I was able to not be so critical about my performance.
(500) Days of Summer is a really welcome change for me. I don't have to be in pain all day, every day at work. I can go to work and feel sweet, loving feelings. I don't have to cultivate anger and suffering like I did in some of these past movies I've been doing. That's really nice.

Fandango: You had some real Singin’ in the Rain moments in this film, such as the fantasy sequence where you dance up a storm celebrating the night before with Summer.
Gordon-Levitt: It was such a fun day filming that dance number. In the script that scene is titled "The Best Morning Ever." It kind of was. There is a pretty good argument that that was the best day of my life so far. I grew up like the rest of us watching Michael Jackson videos -- ahh that's the coolest thing, to be dancing in front of a bunch of people!

Fandango: What was the goal of this movie? It seems like an almost documentary take on the characters' emotional lives.
Gordon-Levitt: It feels real because the movie's about how real life feels rather than how life objectively is. I was like, how should we do this? Should we kind of try to snap it up and pace it like an older screwball comedy? and Zooey insisted it be realistic and grounded. She was so right. We are going to do that screwball comedy down the road, we definitely will. We're going to make more movies together – we're going to be the next Hepburn and Tracy.

Fandango: The story of this movie is told so out-of-sequence. How did you deal with it as an actor? Your moods have to be in sync with that.
Gordon-Levitt: You always see a movie out of sequence. That's part of the challenge, anachronistically telling a linear story. The process of making this movie is not so different from making any other movie. The difference is that the story is also told out of sequence. But it was all there in the script, and the director had the actual sequence of events all mapped on a kind of bible. It was set up for us to finish this scene, for instance, on a really happy note because you know the next scene starts on a sad note.

Fandango: Would you call (500) Days a drama or a comedy?
Gordon-Levitt: It's not a drama or a comedy. I am proud of (500) Days for presenting a perspective of love that is a little less simplistic than your average Hollywood romantic movie. I like that this one plays with a lot of the genre clichés. Finding that balance – what to follow and what to rebel against – is what makes it individual and interesting.

Noë Gold was formerly Features Editor at the Hollywood Reporter and a contributor to Variety before becoming a staff writer at Paramount Pictures. He has been editor-in-chief of Movies USA, bikini and Guitar World and a columnist for the Village Voice and the New York Daily News. He has served as the Managing Editor of VH1 and a writer-producer for Turner Broadcasting. His entertainment news column, The Daily Fix, was a regular feature of the AOL Entertainment Channel. Noë Gold blogs at Doctor Noe’s Smooth Gadget.

Robin Trower at the Fillmore SF 07-08-09

2009-07-17T20:25:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by SonomaPicManThank you, SonomaPicMan for providing a glimpse of greatness.

Robin Leonard Trower (born 9 March 1945, Catford, South East London, England) is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the leader of his own power trio.Trower grew up in the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England.In 1962, Trower formed a group that came to be known as The Paramounts, later including fellow Southend High School pupil Gary Brooker. The Paramounts disbanded in 1966 to pursue individual projects. Trower then joined Brooker's new band Procol Harum in 1967, with whom he remained until 1972. After going solo in 1973 (replaced in Procol Harum by Dave Ball), he found the individual identity and style that have brought him acclaim to this day.

The Gloved One, Requiescat In Pace

2009-06-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

Sad update 6-1-09: Manny's Music R.I.P.

2009-06-01T09:38:00.001-07:00

Jimi Noel Mitch - Mannys Signed Pub Shot. Sad update 6-1-09: Manny's Music R.I.P.
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Manny's Music R.I.P.:
www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/nyregion/01mannys.html?scp=1&a...

Today, in the New York Times I sadly read of the closing of this iconic marketplace on New York's 48th Street. Here's a slideshow of pics that used to line the walls:

Manny's Wall of Fame.

There's more discussion about Jimi's relationship with Manny's in an interview with Manny Goldrich himself in the first of two historic volumes I produced for Guitar World, JIMI HENDRIX: THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE (GW September, 1985), which is pictured right here:

www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/sets/72157605512202079/

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/2369921881/in/set-72157605512202079/]
www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/sets/72157605512202079/

and its companion piece, HENDRIX LIVES!: THE UNPUBLISHED HENDRIX, Vol. II (GW March, 1988), which is shown here:

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/2567714905/in/set-72157605512202079/]

Noe the G
Founding Editor of Guitar World
>"}}}}”> Noe Gold, aka Noe the G is the Founding Editor of Guitar World magazine. Among his most cherished achievements is the creation, with partner Bill Nitopi, curator of the Hendrix Collection Archives and an editor-at-large of Guitar World, of two humongous Special Issues: Vol. 6, No. 5 SEPTEMBER, 1985 SPECIAL JIMI HENDRIX TRIBUTE! and Vol. 9, No. 2 MARCH 1988 HENDRIX LIVES!: THE UNPUBLISHED HENDRIX, Vol. II.

www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/sets/72157605512202079/

As to Jimi's elctronics tech ... Know him? I worked the genius electronics whiz Roger Mayer ... see below:

... and I am the President of Guitar Galaxy! Check out our other fine products here:

The incredible "Roy Buchanan Telly Talk" DVD with a full-on master class session with the master of the Telecaster is available by just sending me an email: noemedia@pacbell.net

Roy Buchanan DVD cover by Noë the G and John Peden

2009-04-22T09:34:00.001-07:00

Roy Buchanan DVD cover by Noë the G and John Peden
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

PS, we finally put up our "sneak-peek trailer version" of highlights for BlipTv and YouTube. Remember, this is a teaser, containing a fraction of the original footage on the DVD it is meant to promote. To get the full-scope, full-sound, complete experience, buy the DVD!

Here's how we look on BlipTv:

And here's the "Telly Talk Teaser" on YouTube:

We wanted to test the waters to see if there would be a demand for a similar kind of musician-with-guitar talk and demo in a Guitar Galaxy series with some of our old friends ... Billy Gibbons, Steve Stevens, Steve Vai, Joe Satch, Yngwie, Eddie Van H. (my kid goes to school with Wolfie) and Keef (I interviewed him last summer -- see this:) . ...

JC-017 Photo Credit: Jacob Cohl
Keith Richards (left) and director Martin Scorsese (right) backstage at the Beacon Theater while filming the Rolling Stones concert film “Shine A Light.” Paramount Classics in Association with Concert Productions International and Shangri-La Entertainment Presents A Martin Scorsese Picture “Shine a Light” starring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. The film is directed by Martin Scorsese. The producers are Victoria Pearman, Michael Cohl, Zane Weiner and Steve Bing. The executive producers are Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. This film has been rated PG-13 for brief strong language, drug references and smoking.

© 2008 by RST Concerts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

From my interview with Keith:
Keith Richards is also a major fan of Scorsese’s and says he’s studied “every one of his movies. Some of them I know most of the dialogue,” he says. “All I heard was that Marty might be shooting the Stones, and I said, ‘Yeah!’ Given the opportunity to get a Stones show shot by a master, who’s going to say no?”
Richards and the Stones have been no strangers to the cinematic treatment by film masters. Of the more than 18 documentaries that have been made about them, “Shine A Light” is one of more than half a dozen helmed by an “auteur.” There was 1968’s Jean-Luc Godard activist-arriviste take on the band, “Sympathy for the Devil: One Plus One”; Robert Frank’s very-limited release (it was shown publicly perhaps three times) documentary about their debauched life on the road, “Cocksucker Blues”; Peter Whitehead’s 1966 art-scene film “Charlie is My Darling”; The Maysles Brothers’
“Gimme Shelter”; and Hal Ashby’s “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” Film scholar that he is, Richards says “Don’t forget ‘Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll,’” Taylor Hackford’s documentary about a legendary Chuck Berry concert, in which Richards appeared and also co-produced. “To me, ‘Shine A Light’ is on a par with that film. It’s different because it’s a Stones show but it’s a very superior rock ’n roll film.”
And why was that one so important to him as a performer and as an artist?
“Actually, to me,” says Richards, “what was really intriguing was getting Marty’s take on it, and his vision. To me, the thing was that Martin Scorsese wanted to do something, and I thought, well, he must have something in mind that is beyond the usual sort of video scan. So I really wanted to find out what Marty wanted.”
Who would have guessed that beneath the guise of the ultimate rock ‘n roll outlaw beat the heart of a cinematheque-denizen film scholar who wanted nothing more than to please a master auteur? “When you’re actually up there doing the work, you really pass all of that onto the director so that in a way, you just do what you do and try
to do it as well as you can, and at the end you see whether you did it or not and then you stop to see – ahh! his vision of it,” observes Richards. “As it slowly unfolded with “Shine A Light” – Marty’s great use of old footage and live footage, for instance, had a great feel about it. It slowly dawns on you as you’re watching it. Otherwise, you have no idea. You can’t climb inside of somebody else’s brain.” At this point in the conversation, Keith says, "Lord knows, there's been people trying to get into my brain, but that was a necessity," referring to his own brain salad surgery.

From the Production Notes for the movie "Shine A Light"
Noe Gold, aka Noe the G is featured for his interviews with Mick and Keith in the Mahalo Daily show’s report on the Martin Scorsese Rolling Stones movie “Shine a Light,” which opens stateside April 4, 2008.

Check out the episode here.

P.S. Please check out my latest links ...

This just in:

>"}}}}));> Noe Gold, aka Noe the G is now a regular
contributor to Fancast.com, an entertainment news website
sponsored by the movie-obsessed Fandango service. His blog
kicks off with his interviews with Mick and Keith in a report
on the Martin Scorsese-Rolling Stones movie 'Shine a Light,'
which opened stateside April 4, 2008:
bigpicture.fancast.com/2008/04/fancast_interview_mick_jag....

>"}}}}):;> Noe was interviewed about how he came to talk to
Mick and Keith on the Mahalo Daily show's episode here:
daily.mahalo.com/2008/04/04/md093-shine-a-light-exclusive...

[http://daily.mahalo.com/2008/04/04/md093-shine-a-light-exclusive-footage-and-interviews/ ]

April 4, 2008 -- Mahalo Daily, (http://daily.mahalo.com/) ranks
consistently in the top five podcasts on iTunes. We recently
put out a video which reached 350,000+ views on YouTube, and
was most viewed for several days.

There will be more from my Mick & Keef conversations here.

So whaddayasay, Guitar World flickr-ites? should we do it? will there be an audience for this sort of thing?

Lemme know.

Jimi Hendrix, another nice shot found!

2009-02-17T23:39:00.001-08:00

Jimi Hendrix
Originally uploaded by sofarsocute(slow with flickr)

Originally uploaded by sofarsocute ... which I hope to include in my book about the Jimi photo hunters. Every day it seems, I get more incredible shots that have not been previously published (I DID TWO ENTIRE SPECIAL ISSUES OF 'EM A FEW YEARS BACK--see below*)

This one, "In Concert in Vancouver! 'Vanilla Fudge' opened the show and had a standing ovation with 'Set me free,'" is by Pierre Geumet, who goes by sofarsocute on Flickr. Pierre is a way cool photog and world traveler based in Vancouver.

He says: "I saw Jimi Hendrix last performance at 'The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival' "... Other photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofarsocute/2193669093/in/set-72157603935863689/ Uploaded by sofarsocute(slow with flickr) on 24 Feb 08, 2008.

He adds, "I consider myself a 'World citizen'
Vous pouvez me contacter en français (Español ok)
日本語。。少しだけ"

He has an amazing video on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/sofarsogut

... and this video is an interview with Jimi on the day before he died:

*This ...

... is the first of two Big-ass Hendrix Special Issues that I edited as the editor of Guitar World. You can actually find the entire issue, page-by-page, here: First the cover - contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/pageview.php?picname=1...
Then, my Editor's Note to the issue: contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/pageview.php?picname=5...
and finally, every single glorious page of the issue: contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/flash.php?currentissue...
... until you come to page 54, with the axology of Jimi's PINK STRAT and its provenance that started the whole voyage: dl.guitarworld.com/gw_history/09_85a/52_fs.jpg

The issue in question was Sept. '85, the first of two monumental Hendrix tributes, and the discussion of two V's Jimi was associated with can be found here (basically the left-hand and the right-hand parts of this magazine spread):

GW Sept. 85 Axology Flying V P. 54
contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/pageview.php?picname=5...

GW Sept. 85 Axology Flying V P. 55
contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/pageview.php?picname=5...

And then you get to the second Big Special issue, which inspired me to finally write this book:

Now dig this ...

I just posted a plethora of Jimi juiciness on my page, which is referred to as the www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/sets/7215760 Jimi set above.

PS, Bill Nitopi, who Stevie Ray Vaughan called "The Keeper of the Frame," Has this to say about our collaboration on these Guitar World Special Issues:
Thanks Noe,
Nice photos...
Yea, it's been 20 years since it came out... but we started working on that GW issue in Jan. 87.
Historic, no one has ever come close to that in any type of publication.
I still remember the look on the face of Dennis Page coming into your office upon realizing we spent almost $10.000 on photos for a single issue.
GW '88 is still looked upon by collectors as the greatest accumulation of Hendrix photos in a single magazine or book.
Thanks again,
Love ya,
Bill
How do ya like that, peoples peoples peoples.

God Bless,

Noe the G
Founding Editor of Guitar World

Stolen Dreams - Sneeze – by Xavier Tatarkiewicz

2008-10-14T21:12:00.001-07:00

Stolen Dreams - Sneeze – by Xavier Tatarkiewicz

We Won!

Dylan Z. Gold in “Sneeze” named mtvU “Best Film on Campus”

"Sneeze" - BFOC: mtvU's Best Film on Campus:

Gesundheit!

Stolen Dreams films on mtvU!

My son Dylan — and some of his classmates — appeared in a short film, a Public Service piece, over the summer that was entered in a competition on the web. The film is called “Sneeze” and it offers a glimpse at the rapid and pervasive ways in which the flu virus is passed on and contracted from one unsuspecting stranger to another throughout a city.

Here’s a link to it --"Sneeze".

Here’s a more current link to it ... As it was featured today (10-28-08) on mtvU:

Stolen Dreams - Sneeze – by Xavier Tatarkiewicz - Best Film on Campus

My son Dylan Z. Gold stars as the kid at the birthday party for his grandma.

The Stolen Dreams films can now be seen on mtvU’s website!

Stolen Dreams films on mtvU! The Best Film On Campus site, presented by mtvU, celebrates and awards the creativity of student films. The Stolen Dreams films have their own festival homepage, and each Stolen Dreams director has a profile. The link is gone but you can see it on the aforementioned MTV site.

The films are by filmmakers from UCLA. The videos are on YouTube too -- just search for "stolen dreams."

The Stolen Dreams films are stimulating, provocative, and something worth sharing and talking about with others. A voting feature was part of the original site. Instead, all 8 films were judged by a panel of industry professionals who narrowed the field to four semi-finalists. A separate judging panel of industry leaders then selected the Grand Prize winner. This judging process took place on Thursday, October 23rd. Please watch the films and take a moment now to share your thoughts on the health care and financial security crisis in America by using the comments feature that is positioned on individual film pages.

Stolen Dreams Film Competition
http://www.stolendreams.com ... or better yet, see it right here on Doctor Noe's Smooth Gadget!

Les Paul's House, Mahwah, N.J. back in the 80s

2008-09-11T12:59:00.001-07:00

Noe+GWcrewLesPaulMahwahNJ.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Noe the G and the Guitar World crew, composed of John Peden, photographer, Perry Margouleff, guitar maven, Bob Davis, Peter Mengaziol, the techno-wiz, went on a guitar safari to Les Paul's house in Mahwah, NJ, where we got the royal tour of all his wondrous gadgets as we prepared an article about the "Wizard of Waukesha."

When I went back into my files from the days of Guitar World (check those way-cool Les Paul gold-top minis me and Bob Davis are holding), there was one snap I couldn't find. It was a gathering for Les Paul Tuesdays (at Fat Tuesdays downtown Manhattan) that pre-dated the Iridium sessions you see chronicled in this awesome shot (see previous blog entry below) by my Flickr mate "Big Frank" Caico (http://www.frankcaico.net/Blog) on August 24, 2008 here -- just use this URL:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/2792662219_d75da82a1f.jpg

The snapshot I was looking for was from this incredible night of music attended by all the illustrious fans of Les, with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page -- two original Yardbirds -- among them.

The interesting thing about it was that Beck and these other guys chose to just hang out and talk amongst themselves, but Jimmy Page was effusive in his homage to Les.

You see, Jimmy Page worshipped the ground Les walked on. In an encounter with the man at his hotel room at the fabled Plaza not much before the fab night at Fat Tuesday's, Jimmy demonstrated this filial adulation. The room was darkly lit, there was a faint smell of incense about ... coming from a little shrine Jimmy had set up on the dresser. There, festooned with all manner of shamanistic geegaws and bathed in a sepulchral light, was a framed picture of the immortal Les Paul!!

You see, Jimmy not only played a Les Paul -- he was in constant thrall of one.

I have no doubt that when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honors Les on November 15, that Jimmy Page will be there.

Right after I posted this I googled "Wizard of Waukesha," which is not only the title of a documentary about the man, but also the name of a tribute November 15 to this all-time genius:

Electric-guitar pioneer Les Paul has been chosen as the honoree for the 13th annual American Music Masters series, presented by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Case Western Reserve University and Gibson Guitar Corp.

"Les played a big role in the pervasiveness of the guitar in popular music and in rock 'n' roll particularly," said Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock Hall.

Paul's search for "this golden sound" changed the course of music history, Stewart said.

"The Wizard of Waukesha: The Life and Legacy of Les Paul" is set to culminate at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, with a tribute concert at Playhouse Square's State Theatre in Cleveland.

Here's a more recent pic of Les from that story: blog.cleveland.com/popmusic_impact/2008/09/medium_les0808...

Now, you may think my own homage to Les would end here, but no ... it wouldn't be Doctor Noe's Smooth Gadget without a personal reference. Here it is:

Just as I was editing and adding this link to the Les Paul Tribute Nov. 15 (www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=...) it happened.

Now, here's the real bizarrity of this story: I was cruising around YouTube and I found this cool performance by Les at the Iridium club in New York City from July 7, 1997 www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hz2HWjM9UQ and guess what? I was there!!!! you can tell (if you know me) by my distinctive laugh at 1:24 into the track.

I wish I could add my voice to the laugh track in Cleveland come Nov. 15.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LES!

Of course, this is about Gibsons, but Peden and I did a lot of hard travelin' on our guitar safaris, notably our adventure with Roy Buchanan, whose story (and beloved guitar) is hinted at here: Roy Buchanan's Telecaster named Nancy on Flickr.

You could do worse than to buy my DVD, produced and directed by Noe the G and filmed by John Peden. Find out more about it here on Noë’s blog: doctornoemedia.blogspot.com

Les Paul- The legend himself! Taken at Iridium Jazz lounge in NYC.

2008-09-11T11:36:00.001-07:00

Les Paul
Originally uploaded by BigFrank

Photo by my Flickr mate "Big Frank" Caico (http://www.frankcaico.net/Blog) on August 24, 2008.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigfrank/
Please see the next item (above) for more on my "Travels with Les."

The Masters (Old and Young): Joe Barbera, John Kricfalusi, Jim Hanna,

2008-08-07T13:03:00.001-07:00

The Masters (Old and Young): Joe Barbera, John Kricfalusi, Jim Hanna, (seated) Friz Freleng
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

From the sublime (Guitars, rock n roll, Rolling Stones, Marty Scorsese. Roy Buchanan) to the ridiculous: John Kricfalusi.

This blog harkens back to my first love: animation. I did a stint at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan back in the 70s, where I met geniuses like John Canemaker ...

John Canemaker, director of the Oscar® winning animated short "The Moon and Son: An Imagined Conversation" at the reception for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' screening of all 10 of the Oscar® nominated animated and live-action short films Tuesday, February 28, 2006, in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The winners in the animated and live-action short film categories will be announced at the 78th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 5, 2006, which will be telecast live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 8 p.m. EST / 5 p.m. PST with an hour-long arrival segment.
— copyright © 2006 doctornoemedia.com

... and my esteemed prof Gil Miret, and where I renewed my relationship with my longtime collaborator on the esoteric film magazine Cineaste, Bill Plympton

Later on in my career I wrote about animation for The Hollywood Reporter. Since I'm back with that outfit now, and specializing once again in animation (I'll be writing a bunch of stuff for the forthcoming Global Animation Special Issue (coming 10/3/08) and the Oscar Watch: Animation Special Issue (out 11/19/08), here's a hearkening back to this roundtable I redacted back in 1998 with John Kricfalusi, Friz Freleng, Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna.

Cheers,

Noe Gold
aka Doctor Noe
aka Noe the G

Noe Gold wants you to see a photo

The Masters (Old and Young): Joe Barbera, John Kricfalusi, Jim Hanna, (seated) Friz Freleng

by Doctor Noe
© All rights reserved

Just follow this link to see the photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_noe/1868210892/

(If the link doesn't work, try copying and pasting it from this email into your browser's address bar.)

Here is the history of my concept of the first Hollywood Reporter Roundtable:

The Masters: Joe Barbera, John Kricfalusi, Jim Hanna, (seated) Friz Freleng. From a proof sheet by Aldo Mauro.
Roundtable for The Hollywood Reporter conducted by features editor Noë Gold in 1998 when all these gents were still with us.

... And John Kricfalusi has posted the entire Roundtable transcript on the ASIFA website in two parts here ...

NoeTHR-FrelengHannaBarberaKricfalusi-1992-Pt1
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Biography: John K Interviews ...
www.animationarchive.org/2006/04/biography-john-k-intervi...

Animation: John Kricfalusi and Noe Gold conduct the first Hollywood Reporter Roundtable with legendary animators Joe Barbera, Bill Hanna and Friz Freleng.

“Here is the first installment of a 1992 interview conducted by John Kricfalusi and Noë Gold with Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera and Friz Freleng. Rarely do we have the opportunity to listen in as directors speak filmmaker to filmmaker. Although the candidness of some of the comments may surprise you, I think you'll agree that this may be one of the most illuminating interviews on the subject of animation ever conducted.” -Stephen Worth

INTRODUCTION by John Kricfalusi: “There has lately been a lot of talk of an animation Renaissance. Where is it? It hasn't happened. ... There certainly is a great upsurge of interest in cartoons, especially from adults. We all want it to happen. Animators want it to happen. Studio Executives want it to happen and most importantly; the public wants it to happen. ... In the 1940s, men like Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera, Friz Freleng and their contemporaries, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones and Tex Avery, brought animated cartoons to their height of glory...”

Noe Gold from the Hollywood Reporter and I met with Joe Barbera, Bill Hanna and Friz Freleng in Mr. Barbera's office. ...

and here ...

NoeTHR-FrelengHannaBarberaKricfalusi-1992-Pt2
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Biography: John K Interviews ...
www.animationarchive.org/2006/05/biography-john-k-intervi...

Animation: John Kricfalusi and Noe Gold conduct the first Hollywood Reporter Roundtable with legendary animators Joe Barbera, Bill Hanna and Friz Freleng.

This is a continuation of an interview by John Kricfalusi with Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera and Friz Freleng. If you missed it, please see Part One of John K Interviews Bill, Joe & Friz

INTRODUCTION by John Kricfalusi: Noe Gold from the Hollywood Reporter and I met with Joe Barbera, Bill Hanna and Friz Freleng in Mr. Barbera's office. ...

FRIZ & BILL AT HARMAN-ISING

Noe Gold: You gentlemen worked together at one point, didn't you?

Bill H: Friz and I worked together in 1930 for a company called Harman & Ising.

Friz F: And that was the beginning...

Bill H: The very beginning... Leon Schlesinger engaged them as a company to produce cartoons for them. After about two or three years, he decided to produce them himself, and that is when Friz and I parted company. I stayed with Hugh and Rudy, and Friz went to work with Leon.

Friz F: I knew I had to make a choice. It was either MGM or Leon Schlesinger. But they started making pictures with Jack King and Tom Palmer, and when I saw what what they made, I threw up. I figured it would be a cinch to make pictures better than that. Leon Schlesinger said I could have my own crew. Warners loved what we were making- Bosko in "Sinkin' in the Bathtub" and all that. ...

Brian Robbins Sun Newspapers Cover Story 6-29-07

2008-07-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

I'm revisiting this cover story I did for the Sun Newspapers about director Brian Robbins because he has a new movie opening July 11, "Meet Dave." This is the very movie that was then known as "Starship Dave" when I visited with Brian on the set.

So to see my original interview with the guy, go here ...

Noë Gold’s most recent cover story on director Brian Robbins in all three editions of the Sun Newspapers may be found here ...
http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/2007/07/brian-robbins-sun-newspapers-p-2-6-29.html

... and here as a PDF of the entire issue ... Studio City Sun 6-29-07

This is from a cover story by Noë Gold for the Sun Newspapers (Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino CA).
Brian Robbins, director of Eddie Murphy’s smash comedy Norbit, takes us on the set of his next Murphy vehicle, Meet Dave.
Photo by robertevans.com

Noë Gold’s stories Gwyneth Paltrow (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117902276.html?categoryID=1709
), Halle Berry (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117902277.html?categoryID=1709
) and Pixar (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117896898.html?categoryID=1635
) are at these fine Variety links.

Doctor Noe's Smooth Gadget: Brian Robbins Sun Newspapers P. 2 6-29-07

Just for fun, check this out ...

2008-06-17T15:07:00.001-07:00

Gekolope shows off
Originally uploaded by Veronica Belmont

It6's been a while since I've posted to the blog so I thought this would be a good place marker.

Watch this space for my latest offerings as the "Movie Expert Mr. Hollywood" on WeSeed.com. Coming July 1!

Keith Richards photo at Fender Exhibit: Roy Buchanan

2008-04-04T04:58:00.001-07:00

Keith Richards photo by John Peden Fender Exhibit: Roy Buchanan's Telecaster 3-22-08
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Fender Exhibit: Roy Buchanan's Telecaster 3-22-08
Keith Richards photo by John Peden

A blow-up of John Peden's photo of Keith for the cover of Guitar World magazine bends his B-string over a massive array of Telecaster firepower including Roy Buchanan's "Nancy," a prime example of the stripped-down, bare bones instrument that is so expressive in the hands of a master like Roy.

Richard Smith, author of "Fender - the sound heard around the world" now works for the Fullerton Museum Center 301 N. Pomona Ave, Fullerton Ca. 92832 (714) 738-6545. He always has an exhibit on Fender but for 2008-10 there is a new exhibit on the Telecaster. The gala opening of the exhibit, entitled “Solid Design: Leo Fender’s Telecaster” was March 22, 2008 7-10 p.m., and the exhibit will run through Fall, 2010.
From the exhibit catalog: “In early 1949 Leo Fender started seriously designing a standard guitar model for his Fine Line of Fender Electric Instruments. At first the guitar was called the Esquire, then the Broadcaster and finally the Telecaster. Sixty years later it is one of the most popular guitars in the world, an instrument built for working men and women musicians who defined the blues, country and pop styles.

There's a whole set of photos from the Tele exhibit here.

Featured on a monitor throughout the night was the documentary by Noe Gold and John Peden, "Roy Buchanan Telly Talk." A full-on "director's cut" documentary version of "Telly Talk" is in the works.

Watch this space for news of further developments: see the "About my DVD" section to the right.

And speaking of Keef ... my interview with him and Mick Jagger are featured here: daily.mahalo.com/2008/04/04/md093-shine-a-light-exclusive...

Noe Gold, aka Noe the G is featured for his interviews with Mick and Keith in the Mahalo Daily show’s report on the Martin Scorsese Rolling Stones movie “Shine a Light,” which opens stateside April 4, 2008.

Check out the episode ... it's pretty cool.

Keith and Buddy KM•079.jpg Kevin Mazur / Paramount Classics
© 2008 by WPC Piecemeal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
_______________________________________________

And there's a whole story behind the photos like this one on my Flickr page -- go to the Shine A Light set and read those cool captions. They tell a story.

Mahalo Daily Interviews with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
by Noe Gold for the "Shine A Light" Production Notes

Noe Gold, aka Noe the G is featured for his interviews with Mick and Keith in the Mahalo Daily show’s report on the Martin Scorsese Rolling Stones movie “Shine a Light,” which opens stateside April 4, 2008.
We recently put out a video which reached 350,000+ views on YouTube, and was most viewed for several days. You can see some examples of our shows here:

http://daily.mahalo.com/2008/01/28/md044-stan-lee-interview/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz1-cPx0cIk

Today we interviewed Noe Gold regarding his work on the SHINE A LIGHT film. In the episode, we are featuring interviews with Mick and Keith that were taken for the Production Notes (with express permission from Paramount).

Mahalo Daily, (http://daily.mahalo.com/) ranks consistently in the top five podcasts on iTunes.

We recently put out a video which reached 350,000+ views on YouTube, and was most viewed for several days. You can see some examples of our shows here:

http://daily.mahalo.com/2008/01/28/md044-stan-lee-interview/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz1-cPx0cIk

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Michael Gallagher
http://daily.mahalo.com/

The piece that mahalo.com ’s producer Michael is talking about was designed to be a kind of companion piece to the “About the Film” section on Paramount’s http://www.shinealightmovie.com/main.html website. If you navigate over there, besides art work, clips and other goodies, you may find the text for the complete Production Notes for the movie. It was supposed to be a kind of behind-the-scenes of the process of putting together an elaborate Production Notes package, which this one in particular of all the many Notes packages I worked on, turned out to be. It’s that process -- and the elaborate process of making the movie itself that the show explores. I’ll be posting some more from the interviews I did with the filmmakers to put together this Production Notes package right on my blog,

I’ve just now seen the movie for the fourth time, and it keeps getting better and better. Some of the features Lon Harris and I discussed in the interview for the show: Keith’s rapport with Marty, Mick’s auteurship of the concert, Buddy Guy’s performance and that of Jack White.

<"}}}}>< - - - -- - Mahalo, - - - -- - <"}}}}>< - -

- - - <"}}}}>< - - mahalo.com, actually - <"}}}}>< - -

-- - Noe Gold http://www.noemedia.net

http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com

P.S. A tip of the hat to Oscar in 60 seconds flat:

Doctor Noe's sexy gadgets and smooth stuff: 60-second Oscar commercial ...

Check out the episode here: Mahalo Daily's episode about Mick and Keith featuring Noe Gold's interview.

Hendrix World - What a Wonderful World

2008-03-29T00:55:00.001-07:00

GW-Sept.85-Hendrix.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

To start at the beginning, you must see this excellent painting by my friend Peaceswirl, a lovely folk artist in Bayou Country:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peaceswirl/2368233466/

That'll take you to these two entries on today's blog!

Now you'll want to go to my latest addition to my Flickr page here for more of the story (or just keep scrolling to the next entry where I recount it):

Now that I've done all that, might as well put it all up on my blog (http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/).

This is the first of two Big-ass Hendrix Special Issues that I edited as the editor of Guitar World. You can actually find the entire issue, page-by-page, here: First the cover - contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/pageview.php?picname=1...
Then, my Editor's Note to the issue: contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/pageview.php?picname=5...
and finally, every single glorious page of the issue: contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/flash.php?currentissue...
... until you come to page 54, with the axology of Jimi's PINK STRAT and its provenance that started the whole voyage: dl.guitarworld.com/gw_history/09_85a/52_fs.jpg

Hold the presses! I did locate the issue in question - it was Sept. '85, the Hendrix tribute, and the photo spread on the pink Strat is right here on page 54:

The discussion of two V's Jimi was associated with can be found here (basically the left-hand and the right-hand parts of this magazine spread):

GW Sept. 85 Axology Flying V P. 54
contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/pageview.php?picname=5...

GW Sept. 85 Axology Flying V P. 55
contests.guitarworld.com/gwhistory/pageview.php?picname=5...

How do ya like that, flickr people.

God Bless,

Noe the G
Founding Editor of Guitar World
doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/2008/03/roy-buchanan-at-lone-...

Jimi's Pink Strat, a convoluted provenance involving Moving Sidewalks, 13th Floor Elevators, ZZ Tops and some mild chicanery of the thieving kind.

2008-03-29T00:40:00.001-07:00

It all started with an innocent footnote to that lovely painting of Jimi on peaceswirl's Flickr page. It was there that I said,

"Paul, thanks for the story that fills in some blanks on that pink Strat (and of course thanks PeaceSwirl for another cool painting - you should put it up on www.flickr.com/groups/hendrixgroove/)

I actually published a black-and-white old publicity photo of Jimi with the Sidewalks in an issue of Guitar WORLD. Don't remember if it was the Unpublished Hendrix special issue, the Hendrix Lives special issue, or the one with Billy on the cover where John Peden and I did a really cool photo odyssey of all Billy's axes -- I'll have to dig that up. But I do have it somewhere.

So this is the story Paul Macrae told about the Pink Strat:

It's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now, but it's had a number of adventures. Legend has it that this guitar was a gift from Jimi to Billy Gibbons back in 1970. Before Z Z Top BG played in a band named The Moving Sidewalks and they opened for Hendrix on his last tour.

Obviously this guitar was one of Gibbons' prized possessions, but at some point it was stolen. In 1976 ZZ Top took a break from touring and recording. It was when they returned to the public eye in 1979 that they first showed their long beards.

During their time in seclusion they found it easy to move anonymously in public because of the beards. One night Gibbons was hanging out in a local bar here in my neighborhood watching the weekly blues jam when he noticed Jimi's Pink guitar being played up on the stage.

So when the group had finished their set Gibbons approached the guitar player, not as himself, but as Joe nobody with a long beard, and made an offer on the guitar. Of course he didn't mention that the guitar once belonged to Jimi Hendrix either.

$150 dollars later he walked out with Jimi's pink guitar in tow.

Guitar World recently celebrated its 300th issue with this look back at all 300 covers: blogs.guitarworld.com/covers/gallery.php.

Hold the presses! I did locate the issue in question - it was Sept. '85, the Hendrix tribute, and the photo spread on the pink Strat is right here:

Jimi-Pink Strat-GW-Sept.85.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

dl.guitarworld.com/gw_history/09_85a/52_fs.jpg

and now on my Flickr page here:

How do ya like that, flickr people.

Now you'll want to go to my latest addition to my Flickr page here for more of the story:

Now that I've done all that, might as well put it all up on my blog (http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/).

All best,

Noe the G
Founding Editor of Guitar World
doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/2008/03/roy-buchanan-at-lone-...

60-second Oscar commercial ...

2008-03-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

... which I'll insert here just before I give you the lowdown on the Fullerton Museum Fender Telecaster exhibit featuring my "Telly Talk" footage of Roy Buchanan. That will be my next post, but for now, here's something I came across on a lovely site called mahalo.com. It's the entire 2008 Oscar telecast in 60 seconds. Here goes ...

Roy Buchanan at the Lone Star Cafe, NYC 1982

2008-03-19T00:13:00.001-07:00

Roy Buchanan at the Lone Star Cafe, NYC 1982
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Photo © by John Peden

John shot this at the gig Roy did after we taped him for the Guitar Galaxy video "Roy Buchanan Telly Talk" (http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/), but the guitar he's playing is actually a Telecaster from John's collection, since "Nancy" was back at the shack for the photo session.

And, stay tuned for this …
Richard Smith, author of "Fender - the sound heard around the world" now works for the Fullerton Museum Center 301 N. Pomona Ave, Fullerton Ca. 92832 (714) 738-6545. He always has an exhibit on Fender but for 2008 there will be a new exhibit on the Telecaster. The gala opening of the exhibit, entitled “Solid Design: Leo Fender’s Telecaster” is scheduled for March 22, 2008 7-10 p.m., and the exhibit will run through Fall, 2010 (http://www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/depts/museum/exhibits/leo_fender_exhibit/default.asp).

From the exhibit catalog: “In early 1949 Leo Fender started seriously designing a standard guitar model for his Fine Line of Fender Electric Instruments. At first the guitar was called the Esquire, then the Broadcaster and finally the Telecaster. Sixty years later it is one of the most popular guitars in the world, an instrument built for working men and women musicians who defined the blues, country and pop styles.

“’Solid Design: Leo Fender’s Telecaster’ will showcase this instrument, the first commercially successful solidbody electric guitar, an instrument that changed music history. Numerous examples from the early years will be on display. There will also be a noticeable celebrity component in the images and presentation, including Telecasters once owned by stars. The exhibit points to players such as George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Roy Buchanan, James Burton, Don Rich and Mike Bloomfield. These musicians—Tele players all—created some of the most potent music imaginable.”

Among the Roy B. artifacts will be his guitar called “Nancy,” which we immortalized in a special Collector’s Choice centerfold of Guitar World magazine. In a spotlight area of the exhibit will be some of the Roy Buchanan “Telly Talk” footage and there will be copies of the DVD in the bookstore gift shop. Guitar Galaxy is planning a special “Director’s Cut” documentary edition of the DVD, which will have more photos like the one at left and photographic details (not footage, ’cause that’s all he wrote) about Nancy and the photo spread we shot for Guitar World on that occasion, as well as personal testimony from some Tele players such as Jeff Beck, Robbie Robertson, Seymour Duncan and others who were touched by or intimate with Roy.

Keep on rockin’,

Noë the G

Roy Buchanan "Nancy"-Collectors Choice November 82

2008-03-12T09:03:00.001-07:00

Roy Buchanan "Nancy"-Collectors Choice November 82
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

This was Roy's guitar. It will be on exhibit starting this weekend, at the Fender Museum in Fullerton, CA. Here’s the details:

http://www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/depts/museum/exhibits/leo_fender_exhibit/default.asp

Opening Gala at the Fullerton Museum

Saturday, March 22, 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Join the Fullerton Museum Center in celebrating the opening of TWO exhibits, including a NEW exhibit in the Leo Fender Gallery! Take this special opportunity to view “Solid Design: Leo Fender’s Telecaster” and “The Delta Blues Project.” It will be an evening celebrating music, art, and everything in between! $20 Admission/Free for members. Food/Entertainment by Kid Ramos. Call (714) 738-6545 for more details.

The photo is by John Peden for the Collector's Choice photo session for the magazine centerfold.

But as an added treat while we had Roy and his ax in the studio, I interviewed him and we rolled videotape. Twenty-five years later, the results of that videotape can be seen on a commercially available DVD known as "Roy Buchanan Telly Talk."

Roy Buchanan Telly Talk!

Some more details about our setup for videotaping Roy. In the video he is playing the Telecaster that he is most identified with, called "Nancy". This Tele is well known to Roy freaks. The other thing is we had him playing through a 4X10 Fender Bassman amp, model 5F6-A considered by many that know to be the BEST guitar amp ever made by any company. It can be glimpsed in a few of the shots. We also used a 1961 brown Fender outboard spring reverb unit model 6G-15. We employed two good Nakamichi microphones, one for vocal and the other on the amp. Roy definitely liked the tone of this rig (who wouldn't ?) This set up along with the relaxed vibe of the shoot and Noë the G’s knowledgeable questions contributed to a very short but successful video.

... and there's more info on it on my blog here: http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/2008/01/sound-on-rebound.html#links

… and here:

Sully the Impaler's byline shoutouts

2008-03-10T12:13:00.001-07:00

byline shoutouts
Originally uploaded by sully the impaler

Thanks, Sully, for being a fan of Noe the G. and finding that issue November 1986.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sullyville/2316747604/in/photostream/?addedcomment=1#comment72157604087085324

Do you have the issue with this centerfold?

Roy Buchanan "Nancy"-Collectors Choice November 82?

2008-03-10T11:58:00.001-07:00

Roy Buchanan "Nancy"-Collectors Choice June 82?
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

The November 1982 centerfold. I have a copy but I'm looking for an original issue ... I edited the text and wrote/did the interview and accompanying article.

Dylan with my guitar

2008-03-09T20:45:00.001-07:00

Dylan with my CharvelJackson 9-9-07
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

The ax was made for me by Grover Jackson. It is a Charvel Jackson Strat with Dimarzio pickups, gold hardware and a Floyde Rose. The company he rode to glory in the '80s and '90s has recently been conglomerated into the benign despot of the guitar world, Fender Instruments. Which is a good thing for all concerned.

Noe the G
aka Doctor Noe

http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/

My CharvelJackson Serial Number 4507

2008-03-09T20:36:00.001-07:00

Sound on the Rebound

2008-01-26T16:06:00.001-08:00

DylFender•1-20-08_142.JPG
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Checked out the Fullerton museum last week, with my son Dylan, pictured here. Browsing around in all that history and monolithic iconography (see here- just click on the picture:) got me to thinking about my next project -- contributing something to an exhibit there coming up in March, organized by Richard Smith, author of Fender: The Sound Heard 'Round the World. The show will be about Telecasters. One particular one, belonging to the late Roy Buchanan, was photographed by John Peden, who also shot numerous other Fenders for Richard's book). The guitar was named Nancy, and in 1982 I had the honor of moderating a video interview cum master class with Mr. Buchanan as he arrived in John Peden's studio for the photo enshrinement of Nancy in Guitar World magazine's Centerfold Collector's Choice feature.

See the caption for more info on this session, which did make it to guitar freak audiences via the DVD medium.

Roy Buchanan's "Nancy" above the nut

2008-01-23T00:50:00.001-08:00

Roy Buchanan's "Nancy" above the nut
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Roy Buchanan was interviewed by Noe Gold
and photographed by John Peden

In June, 1982 yours truly Doctor Noe aka Noe the G was getting restless in my role as the editor of Guitar World magazine. So I hung out my Guitar Galaxy shingle, which allowed me to do some side projects of my own. I distributed guitar effects created by my partner Jimi Hendrix effects guru Roger Mayer, produced ax-related artifacts such as The Guitar World according to Frank Zappa and The Guitar World According to Steve Stevens and did a historic interview with Roy Buchanan, Master of the Telecaster.

The occasion was our photo session of Roy's beloved Telecaster, "Nancy," for the Collector's Choice centerfold feature of the magazine. While we were at it, photographer John Peden and I decided to videotape an interview with Roy in the studio, in which he would play the Telly, show off some licks and techniques and regale us with his down-home personality and philosophy of playing and guitar hardware.

We provided Roy with some bitchin' equipment for his "master class": we had him playing through a 4X10 Fender Bassman amp, model 5F6-A, considered by many that know to be the BEST guitar amp ever made by any company. It can be glimpsed in a few of the shots. We also used a 1961 brown Fender outboard spring reverb unit model 6G-15. We employed 2 good Nakamichi microphones, one for vocal and the other on the amp. Roy definitely liked the tone of this rig (who wouldn't ?) This set up along with the relaxed vibe of the shoot and Noë the G’s knowledgeable questions contributed to a fairly short but successful video.

Time passed, and unfortunately, so did Roy, may he rest in peace. The tape lived on a shelf in John Peden's studio for 25 years, until I had the bright idea to transfer it to DVD. I did a little editing and put out a DVD called Roy Buchanan Telly Talk.

Before long, I started to get some amazing response from people who had been touched by the magic of Roy's music.

"… This interview is special and should be made available," said one string-bending fan who bought the DVD. "I wish Mr. Buchanan was still with us so that I could have met him and have a conversation like you had. Just like yours it would have been an extremely special occasion.

"Roy Buchanan was the best. Unique and very missed. He gave us the gift of his music for us to experience and add to the pleasure of living. His music is truly special."

"You should post the intro of Roy on youtube," said another fan. "You would generate a lot of interest in the DVD. Plus it would give Roy some more exposure to newer players. I think this DVD with Roy is the only type of its kind."

So now we are in Phase One of the Roy project. With Telly Talk out in the marketplace and yes, a YouTube "teaser trailer" soon to come, we are gathering more material for what we are calling the Telly Talk Directors Cut. This is envisioned as a full-on documentary, adding to the 1/2 hour of video we did with Roy a bunch more photos, live footage and talking-heads interviews with Roy admirers and friends such as pickup meister Seymour Duncan, Telly practitioners Jeff Beck, Andy Summers, Will Ray, Jim Campilongo (solo and with Nora Jones on "The Little Willies") and Jerry Donahue and drawing heavily from the reminiscences and the voluminous vaults of Roy-ologist Bob Davis.

And, stay tuned for this …
Richard Smith, author of "Fender - the sound heard around the world" curator of the Fullerton Museum Center 301 N. Pomona Ave, Fullerton Ca. 92832 (714) 738-6545 will mount new exhibit on the Telecaster in March. The Roy Buchanan “Telly Talk” footage will be part of the exhibit and copies of the DVD will be available in the museum gift shop.

For updates on the exhibit and our progress with the Directors Cut, and for ordering info re the DVD take a look at the column on the right. It's easy, just send me and email requesting it and I'll send you a PayPal invoice which, when paid, will trigger immediate delivery of your DVD. It's capitalism at its best.

Cheers,
Noe G

< - - - -- - Love and blessings, - - - -- -
< - - - - -
< - - - -

< - - -- - Noe Gold

www.noemedia.net

doctornoemedia.blogspot.com

Girls Gone Wild ... in a Feminist, Self-Empowering Kind of Way

2007-12-04T23:08:00.000-08:00

Allee Willis has been an avatar of social and sociable consciousness for as long as I can remember. Back in the day, associated with A&M Records and hits, like it says in her bio, she has collaborated with Bob Dylan, James Brown, Herbie Hancock and countless other music luminaries. A GRAMMY® winner for soundtrack music for 1985’s Beverly Hills Cop (a #1 album), Willis is one of contemporary music’s most prolific songwriters. Her first-ever musical -- with master arranger Stephen Bray -- the Oprah Winfrey-produced The Color Purple, opened in December ’05 on Broadway and is touring the country.

This is about her latest project, in her persona as "Bubbles the Artist" (http://www.bubblestheartist.com/) along with Gnarls Barkley voice Holly Palmer (who inhabits Cheesecake). Their combined efforts manifest as http://www.bubblesandcheesecake.com/. This is a genuine web-Youtube-cyber-phenomenon whose funky graphics in a rubadub style are moving rapidly through space and time.

The video was revealed to me by my friend and promo man extraordinaire Henry Eshelman. Its subject matter is empowerment for women, powered by a funky groove and some lovely cutout-collage animation. It has the Willis signature look and the implied message of girls gotta have fun. In the process, the Youtube notoriety brought out the comments in people and thus a controversy was born.

“This was written purely as a pop soul song; not at all political,” says Willis. “It does talk about how sometimes women have trouble standing up for themselves, but it’s really about self-esteem for everyone – about having enough of a sense of yourself to claim what’s right for you.”

Palmer commented, “I was very surprised at the anger out there directed at a couple of people having fun. In a way, it goes right to the heart of what we’re talking about with Bubbles & Cheesecake – everybody has the right to their own voice, no matter what resistance it meets.” Willis added, “It’s no wonder many women are afraid to express themselves, given some of the comments we’ve seen.

“It’s crazy being in the middle of an unintended controversy,” Willis concludes, “but the greatest thing our art can do is spotlight something that’s not working in the culture, and point to things that are more positive. It’s a hard position for us to be in, because all you want to do is make art. But we also feel we must be doing significant work if we’ve hit such a nerve with this song.”

And so, without further ado, the song ...

Doctor Noe's sexy gadgets and smooth stuff: Bugs and Buddha

2007-11-25T01:08:00.000-08:00

http://thebuddhadiaries.blogspot.com/2007/11/cockroach.html

Bugs and Buddha

2007-11-25T01:04:00.001-08:00

archy
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

This is a response to my friend Peter Clothier's seasonal musing (http://thebuddhadiaries.blogspot.com/2007/11/cockroach.html) about whether killing a cockroach is karmically correct. His blog post brought up some interest responses, such as this one from robin andrea, who said...

"When I catch bugs in the house I alway use a cup or small bowl to put over the critter. I then slide a postcard or envelope under the cup, catching the bug inside. The bug is only slightly offended by the experience, and is usually happy to crawl or fly out of the container. I've caught all kinds of citters this way, even a mouse the cat brought in.

Thus, my response took off from hers, and took in another gentleman's musing over the transcendental reincarnative implications. ...

Peter, around our house I use the Robin Andrea method as well, preserving the critters -- crickets mostly -- to carefully be served up to the reptile gods in the persons of my son's Gekko, Zeppo, and the three frogs that live in the next habitat over.

As to the reincarnation question, though you are correct in citing Mr. Kafka, I would prefer to honor the voice of an American auteur, Mr. Don Marquis:

mehitabel was once cleopatra

By Don Marquis, in "archy and mehitabel," 1927

boss i am disappointed in
some of your readers they
are always asking how does
archy work the shift so as to get a
new line or how does archy do
this or do that they
are always interested in technical
details when the main question is
whether the stuff is
literature or not
i wish you would leave
that book of george moores on
the floor
mehitabel the cat and i want to
read it i have discovered that
mehitabel s soul formerly inhabited a
human also at least that
is what mehitabel is claiming these
days it may be she got jealous of
my prestige anyhow she and
i have been talking it over in a
friendly way who were you
mehitabel i asked her i was
cleopatra once she said well i said i
suppose you lived in a palace you bet
she said and what lovely fish dinners
we used to have and licked her chops

mehitabel would sell her soul for
a plate of fish any day i told her i thought
you were going to say you were
the favorite wife of the emperor
valerian he was some cat nip eh
mehitabel but she did not get me

archy

Georgie Bush Is Always a Good Target

2007-11-21T23:39:00.000-08:00

... easy perhaps, but not that easy ...In Control via Koreus

From Hell and Back ...

2007-10-25T18:11:00.001-07:00

From Hell, a photo by Noemí Macías Vega
Originally uploaded by noemimmv

To mangle a book title by Norman Mailer. OK, so it's just in time for Halloween ...
and you thought you'd be seeing the usual run-o-the-mill clichéd images. Think again.

Just scroll down to the fourth entry on this blog (http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/2007/09/fear-of-fright-night.html) and you can read my essay on classic horror films entitled “Fear of Fright Night”. I wrote this in 2001 for an AOL site I was a regular contributor/reviewer for called Entertainment Asylum.

You can also find the page here:

http://www.angelfire.com/ma/babybrownsplace/articles/art7.html

I wrote numerous pieces for Entertainment Asylum in my tenure as an AOL correspondent/content editor, but only this one was saved for posterity. I share it with you now.

Cheers,

Noë Gold

aka Doctor Noe

> >

PS, there’s also a neato keeno compendium of creature features here on the same site:

http://www.angelfire.com/ma/babybrownsplace/articles/articles.html

PPS, check out my latest article here ...

This is my article about Zorina Kroop, Mega Lottery winner, in the Studio City Sun, 10-5-07:

http://suncomm.globat.com/~suncommu/archives/studio_city_sun_archives/2007/Oct%205/

PPS, and here’s the last one for the Sun ...

Noë Gold’s most recent cover story on director Brian Robbins in all three editions of the Sun Newspapers may be found here ...
http://www.studiocitysun.com/proof/STUv5n22.pdf

This is from a cover story by Noë Gold for the Sun Newspapers (Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino CA).

Brian Robbins, director of Eddie Murphy’s smash comedy Norbit, takes us on the set of his next Murphy vehicle, Starship Dave. (Photo by robertevans.com)

Noë Gold’s interviews with Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry and Cameron Crowe are at www.noemedia.net .

Again, you might like to see how the story looks as a post on my blog

Doctor Noe’s Sexy Gadgets and Smooth Stuff

and here (Part 2)

and this about Oakwood School, where my son attends:

http://www.oakwoodschool.org/PDF/SunStory-Astman.pdf

I’d really appreciate your linking to my blog and inspiring others to ...

Subscribe! To Doctor Noe's Sexy Gadgets and Smooth Stuff, http://doctornoemedia.blogspot.com/

This is from my flickr pal Noemí Macías Vega and it was Uploaded by noemimmv (her flickr handle) on 19 Oct 07, 1.38PM MDT.

Here's what you will encounter when you go to her flickr profile (http://www.flickr.com/people/noemimmv/):
I have been interested in photography since I was 10 years old. Now I am studying photography in the Art high school of Canary Island (Spain).

I am learning new things from all sorts of people . . . I prefer portraits because I think in that form I can REALLY see the person.

The Self-portraits I do have death as a theme; I find that interesting and mysterious. If you want to see more of my photos please check out my website( which will be coming soon in English.)

Nomys Vega website: http://www.nomysvega.es.mw/

Doctor Noe's sexy gadgets and smooth stuff: Ry Cooder Guitar World March 1981

2007-09-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Doctor Noe's sexy gadgets and smooth stuff: Ry Cooder Guitar World March 1981

2007-09-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

Fear of Fright Night

2007-09-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Halloween ...
this here’s my essay on classic horror films entitled “Fear of Fright Night”. I wrote this in 2001 for an AOL site I was a regular contributor/reviewer for called Entertainment Asylum.

Find the page at:

http://www.angelfire.com/ma/babybrownsplace/articles/art7.html

I wrote numerous pieces for Entertainment Asylum in my tenure as an AOL correspondent/content editor, but only this one was saved for posterity. I share it with you now.

Cheers,

Noë Gold

FEAR OF FRIGHT NIGHT

What's to enjoy about scary films?

By Noë Gold @ Entertainment Asylum

We are now in the midst of another cycle of shock films, loosely categorized by film historians as the horror genre but I'll just call 'em Scary Movies, since these film historians tend to quarrel and quibble about what exactly is a horror film. I say "cycle" because these films come in bunches, about every twenty years or so, and are extremely popular. The current crop (typified in the late nineties by Scream, Scream 2, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Disturbing Behavior, the then-current Halloween: H20 and soon to be continued with I Still Know What You Did Last Summer), have one thing in common: they're not "monster movies" like Frankenstein or The Fly or any of the creepy horror films that were popular in the fifties.

The Scary Movie of the nineties relies more on psychological terror than the obvious makeup-enhanced movies of that more innocent era. It deals with ordinary people in ordinary situations who come across a deviant like "Halloween's" Mike Myers. The suspense in H20 is more on account of the audience's expectations and the throbbing, spooky music than from any obvious monster. Mike Myers comes with a lot of baggage, and it's all hidden beneath that very ordinary white Halloween mask. The effect is much more chilling than Godzilla could ever hope to be.

Why is this Scary cycle surfacing again now? On the surface, things are fairly stable in modern-day society. Crime statistics are down, the economy is whistling along and Charles Manson is tucked away neatly in prison with no hope of escape. So why do we flock to movies that scare the gizzards out of us? Because it gives us pleasure. When there are no real things to be scared of, we go to the movies to shake things up. In a weird way, it's therapeutic.

To illustrate this point, I call forth a reference in a seminal book by an author I used to know who taught me a lot about the genre, Carlos Clarens. On the frontispiece of his Illustrated History of the Horror Films, Carlos quotes sociologist Roland Penrose from his work, Violence in Contemporary Art: "The bogey of violence is particularly horrifying and intolerable to us when we meet it in cold blood. The arts, however, avoid its brutal impact by their appeal to the emotions, they warm us to its presence, turning terror into enjoyment and cruelty into compassion. We participate in the act of violence without suffering its evil consequences. Art, in fact, allows us, as in certain rituals, to satisfy our Olympian yearning to stimulate the forces of nature. Its nonviolent power has a therapeutic and catalytic influence."

So, watching Scary Movies in the relative safety of a theater with hundreds of other people around us will not turn us into raving, bloodthirsty lunatics. On the contrary, it's a cheap alternative to seeing a shrink. For the same reason we pay money and wait in long lines to ride the shriekiest roller coaster, we go to the movies to get our hair lifted. Steve Miner, who directed H20, says it this way: "My favorite scary film of all time was Psycho, which I could not sit through. I never saw the whole movie until I was an adult. Halloween I found reminiscent in spirit of that kind of movie: unrelentingly scary and suspenseful and atmospheric. I think people like to be scared because they can go to the edge without really being there."

Kevin Williamson, the Dawson's Creek director who wrote the screenplay of H20 as well as that of Scream, credits Halloween for what he is today. "Halloween is and always has been my favorite film of all time," he says. "It wasn't just a movie, it was an experience. ... The audience participation factor was one of the most incredible parts of the movie. The way the audience jumped and screamed at the characters on screen got my blood pumping. It was this effect in Halloween that made me realize that I wanted to be a filmmaker.

Okay, what about that "every twenty years" theory? It's no coincidence that the current Halloween is subtitled H20, since the original Halloween was released in 1978. That one put its director, John Carpenter, on the map and kicked off the career of Jamie Lee Curtis as well (it was her first feature film). H20 has among its co-stars Jamie Lee's mom, Janet Leigh, who was the star victim of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, released 18 years before Halloween in 1960 (and later to be redone in a faithful translation by Gus Van Sant). Carpenter's stated purpose in conceiving Halloween was that he wanted to create a picture that would play like a full-length version of the shower scene in Psycho.

Go back roughly twenty years from Psycho and you have the beginning of another Scary cycle in the early forties. A series of films produced by Val Lewton has a lot in common with what the Scary cycle of the nineties is going for - psychological horror with no monsters or creatures in sight. The great director Jacques Tourneur did more with camera angles, lighting and sound to chill the audience's bones with his masterpieces the original Cat People and his follow-up I Walked With a Zombie. I command you to go out and rent these right now so you can see what I mean.

The first of these twenty-year cycles, just to round out my argument, goes back to Germany in the twenties. You won't be able to rent Paul Weggener's Student of Prague or his series of films about the Golem, a vengeful Jewish monster who haunted Czechoslovakia. But there is also The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, the original vampire story (with Max Schreck as the Vampire). And rounding out the cycle is The Hands of Orlac, with Caligari's Conrad Veidt, about a concert pianist who has the hands of a murderer grafted on after he loses his in an accident. The fright genre moved (along with a number of German filmmakers escaping the Nazis) to America for its next cycle, and it is also no great coincidence that another one of these German exports, Peter Lorre, made his American film debut in 1935 in a remake of Orlac called Mad Love, another one that you must rent or seek out on cable TV.

Which is all to say that what comes around goes around in the world of roller coasters and Scary Movies. Now that I have given you a quick sense of its history, it's a good time to grab a ride.

PS, there’s also a neato keeno compendium of creature features here on the same site:

http://www.angelfire.com/ma/babybrownsplace/articles/articles.html

.... and in this photo gallery from The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/iconic-horror-movies-32472

Noë Gold’s most recent cover story on director Brian Robbins in all three editions of the Sun Newspapers may be found here ...
http://www.studiocitysun.com/proof/STUv5n22.pdf

This is from a cover story by Noë Gold for the Sun Newspapers (Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino CA).
Brian Robbins, director of Eddie Murphy’s smash comedy Norbit, takes us on the set of his next Murphy vehicle, Starship Dave.

Noë Gold’s most recent cover story on director Brian Robbins in all three editions of the Sun Newspapers may be found here ...
http://www.studiocitysun.com/proof/STUv5n22.pdf

Noë Gold’s interviews with Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry and Cameron Crowe are at www.noemedia.net .

Lovely Antifascist

2007-09-22T22:51:00.001-07:00

GerdaTaroSlide2.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

What is amazing to me about this person is that she lived in a time when everything was possible. See the three listings below. ...

"Gerda Taro, Guadalajara Front, Spain," July 1937, by an unknown photographer.

Photo: International Center of Photography

Related Article: A Wartime Photographer in Her Own Light (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/arts/design/22taro.html)

----------------
Now playing: Paul McCartney - All Things Must Pass
via FoxyTunes

GerdaTaro: Premature Anti-Fascist Icon Lady

2007-09-22T18:18:00.001-07:00

GerdaTaroSlide1.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Gerda Taro began her short, adventurous life as Gerta Pohorylle, a Jewess born in Poland.Sometime in the spring of 1936, she and her lover André Friedmann, a Hungarian Jew, who took the name Robert Capa, changed their names and, in the process, the history of photography. Ms. Pohorylle became Gerda Taro. Working at times as “Capa,” an imaginary American photographer, they began documenting the Spanish Civil War, capturing the ruined towns and devastated civilians and soldiers on the Republican side.

Gerda Taro - Republican Bugle Boy

2007-09-22T18:10:00.001-07:00

GerdaTaroSlide10.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

This series of photos (see the next three blog entries) took me back to an adolescent obsession triggered by George Orwell's most amazing Homage to Catalonia, his tale of the revolutionary atmosphere that pervade Spanish Civil War-era Barcelona and its environs. The streets were teeming with anarchism and good vibrations, powered by the common struggle to off the Fascist forces of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. For this, Taro, her husband Robert Capa and the sainted Brooklyn soldiers of the Lincoln Brigade were anointed "premature antifascists" by the Hoover-led FBI and its successors in the Great American Witch Hunt, the House Unamerican Activities Committee and McCarthyism.

War Portraitist With a Cause

2007-09-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

Gerda Taro, who died young, is only now being honored by the International Center of Photography in New York. See above and link at right for more ... (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/arts/design/22taro.html?ex=1348200000&en=3ccb5a5546f4abe1&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink)

Ham on Ry

2007-09-07T23:57:00.001-07:00

RyCooder1981.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

This is a pic my buddy Lyle Wachovsky took of Ry Cooder as I interviewed him (I'm on the left) for Guitar World magazine. I was the founding editor of this rag. I'll post the entire story in the next blog entry.

Ry Cooder Guitar World March 1981

2007-09-07T23:56:00.001-07:00

RyCooderGW03-81#1.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

to actually read this, follow the link to my Flickr page.

Ry Cooder interview P. 2

2007-09-07T23:55:00.001-07:00

RyCooderGW03-81#2.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

... now you're getting there. Follow the link, dude...

Ham on Ry take 3

2007-09-07T23:52:00.003-07:00

RyCooderGW03-81#3.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

link on dude ...

Ham on Ry Take 4

2007-09-07T23:52:00.001-07:00

RyCooderGW03-81#4.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

just follow the bouncing link ...

Tart Sweet

2007-09-06T11:03:00.001-07:00

Chocolate Tart, 3 Square Café by Röckenwagner, Venice, CA 8-19-07
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

A picture is worth a thousand calories.

I'll leave it at that: http://www.rockenwagner.com/cafe.html

Besides, Triplecreme (http://triplecreme.blogspot.com/2007/03/3-square-bakery-now-open.html) can give you the down low. She's a real foodie.

Now here's a fun idea ...

2007-07-26T01:29:00.001-07:00

Not The Press badge
Originally uploaded by andyi

... from Andy Ihnatko, my favorite tech columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times who I first encountered as an original MacUser fan back in the '90s, and this marks the second but doubtless not the last time I quote him in this here space.

I highly recommend his books (www.wiley.com) about technology, which like Herman Melville's tomes, give me the minutia of a subject at the same time as they delve into the blubber. For more of his wit and wisdom, do visit his "Colossal Waste of Bandwidth" at www.andyi.com.

Andy's caption to "Not the Press Badge":

While explaining a recurring phenomenon, I came up with the idea for a special "Not The Press" badge for me to wear when I'm out shooting an event with the Big-Ass SLR.

Made with FD's Flickr Toys.

... about which the ever-observant Jim Heid noted ...

jimheid says:

Ha! And always with the Clairefontaine notebook. That alone gives away that you aren't a photog. They use, like, Mead or something.

Another Andy I. gem

2007-07-26T01:06:00.001-07:00

Letdown
Originally uploaded by andyi

This is the photo that inspired the anti-press badge above.

Here's what Andy I. says about the captured event and the badge it inspired. The photo is entitled "Letdown":

I felt like I was disappointing some people. The folks who do lots of parade would spot the Better Than Normal camera and pointedly slow down or do something cool in front of me, and often the ringleader would ask what paper I work for so they can snag the clipping for their press kit.

The factual answer is "The Chicago Sun-Times" but I'm sure that they mean "how can your photo further any of our life goals?" so the truthful answer is "I'm just shooting for fun."

They don't spit on me after that, but still, I wonder if I shouldn't make up some sort of NOT THE PRESS badge to wear, just to keep things clear.

Visual Poetry

2007-07-19T00:02:00.001-07:00

I may, I might, I must
Originally uploaded by jimheid

One of the rare pleasures of meandering around Flickr is when I discover someone who is not only a great photographer but someone who with his photography and his words comments on life around us. Just such a creator is Jim Heid, who is not only one of my new gurus of the Mac (a particular religion in whose congregation I worship regularly), but also quite a philosopher indeed. His paper trail is worth following.

I may, I might, I must

If you will tell me why the fen
appears impassable, I then
will tell you why I think that I
can get across it if I try.

Marianne Moore (1887-1972)

Another of the poems showcased on the London Underground as part of the system's Poems on the Underground program.

View the first photo in the series or the previous one.

Brian Robbins Sun Newspapers P. 2 6-29-07

2007-07-13T00:55:00.001-07:00

Brian Robbins Sun Newspapers P. 2 6-29-07
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

This is from a cover story by Noë Gold for the Sun Newspapers (Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino CA).
Brian Robbins, director of Eddie Murphy’s smash comedy Norbit, takes us on the set of his next Murphy vehicle, Starship Dave.
Noë Gold’s most recent cover story on director Brian Robbins in all three editions of the Sun Newspapers may be found here ...
http://www.studiocitysun.com/proof/STUv5n22.pdf

Noë Gold’s interviews with Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry and Cameron Crowe are at www.noemedia.net.
Photo by robertevans.com

Here is my unedited manuscript for this piece:

Brian Robbins for the Studio City Sun
By Noë Gold

Driving onto the Fox lot on my way to see director Brian Robbins as he helms his second Eddie Murphy comedy “Starship Dave,” I pass a vigorous game of H-O-R-S-E played by some Star-Trek-cum-West Point-outfitted extras and what looks like the Oscar-nominated star of “Norbit.”

I later discover, talking to Eddie’s assistant Charisse Hewitt while watching him film some of his scenes, that that wasn’t her boss shooting baskets but his photo double doppelganger, who looks remarkably like Eddie but is about six inches shorter.

The basketball court is a constant on Robbins’ sets, not only because it provides respite from the shoot-and-wait-around endemic to all sets but because it is a hallmark of the sports-nut director’s working style, a loose camaraderie with the emphasis on playmaking and precision and a hardwood warrior’s sense of team play and strategy.

Like the original hardwood warrior, Lakers coach Phil Jackson, Robbins is described by his producer Todd Komarnicki as “the zen master of the lens. I’ve never seen a director create such a casual and friendly work environment that at the same time is hard-working and on the button. It’s a rare combination of professionalism and personal connection and it really makes for great work,” he says.

And the pickup basketball game has its place in the entire aesthetic, he continues. “I’m happy to say that my producing partner is getting lessons there from Brian in friendliness and no-conflict filmmaking — if you don’t sharpen your skill set then you don’t put yourself out there. The first shoot is the fun time in the morning. People are on their game and convivial, and this project has been a truly enjoyable experience. Brian has been collaborative and instinctive and funny and warm. He stands up for what he believes in, and we all wind up with the best piece of material.”

The director and his star established their go-to relationship on the set of their last comedy together, the PG-13-rated “Norbit.”

The comedy was budgeted at about $60 million and went on to make $170 million and counting (it has just been released on DVD). Murphy was so happy with the process of making that one that he asked Robbins what he was doing next. The answer turned out to be “Starship Dave,” a big family comedy about an alien spaceship made to look like a human being that lands on Earth.

“It’s basically the story of people from a planet called Nil who are sent to Earth because they need something from the planet to replenish their energy supply,” says Robbins. “They had sent an orb down to Earth and it fell. So they have no choice but to come here and investigate why this happened. The hook is, that these people are no taller than an inch and a quarter. So they built a spaceship that looks like a human being so that they can come and interact with us and basically that spaceship is Eddie Murphy. So they’re also all inside the ship operating it like a giant Trojan horse, and also Eddie’s character is inside the ship — he’s the captain, which is why the ship looks like him.”

The scenes I have come to observe take place inside the “head” or cockpit of the spaceship. The set designers have built this big egg-shaped structure on a soundstage and peopled it with drone-like space men and women sitting at desklike seats with LCD monitors facing a big projection screen which in the finished movie will be showing what Eddie sees through his “eyes” as he interacts with humans in his fumbling, exploratory way. As he goes on dates in the New York-located shoot, the camera records what’s going on inside and outside his head, and the pieces are put together later in post-production.

“It’s a complicated movie. It’s tricky,” says Robbins. “The whole real world’s a fish-out-of-water concept: people don’t know that he’s a spaceship. And then there’s this whole other movie going on inside his body which is like a submarine.. And then everything that’s going on in the real world which we shot on videotape through his eyes — we’re playing that back on viewscreens that are inside his head. He’s controlling the outside so he has to experience it on the inside. We’re constantly trying to make sure that everything syncs up.”

The New York City-born Studio City transplant is on a roll these days. “Norbit’s” commercial success was echoed by that of “Wild Hogs,” which he produced with partner Mike Tollin. Tollin-Robbins Productions, which is on Ventura Boulevard, is in post-production on the TV movie “The Bronx Is Burning,” and in pre-production on the next Halle Berry-Billy Bob Thornton drama “Tulia.” On top of that is his ongoing involvement in a raft of TV shows his company produces, among them “Smallville” and “One Tree Hill.” Robbins recently set up his own shingle, Varsity Pictures, in West Hollywood.

Robbins moved to the Valley in his early teens, went to Grant High School and immediately got into the entertainment biz. His father is the character actor Floyd Levine, who played Abe the Tailor in his son’s movie, “Norbit” and Dr. Stein on “Melrose Place,” and appeared in many TV shows including “Knight Rider,” “Cagney & Lacey,” “T.J. Hooker,” “The Love Boat,” “Starsky & Hutch” and “Kojak.”

Perhaps due to his father’s mentorship, or maybe just his own drive, Robbins parlayed his student involvement into a career. “I started out acting in plays in high school,” he says. “I got my first agent and started auditioning for roles. After a while I did a few pilots and soon after that I landed on “Head of the Class” for five years. I ended up guest starring on every sitcom on TV like ‘Different Strokes,’ ‘Facts of Life,’ ‘Three’s Company,’ ‘Taxi,’ ‘Cagney & Lacey.’

“And when I was on ‘Head of the Class’ I realized that there must be more to life than sitting in a trailer and waiting to come out and say a few lines,” he adds. “I started wanting to write and direct and to realize that that was where my real creative outlet was. So on the show I got to co-write an episode and I started to develop a few ideas. And when the show ended, I produced this TV show with Magic Johnson, this celebrity basketball show, and from there I met Mike Tollin who was to become my partner during the last 12 years. We hooked up on that and we made this documentary for Fox called ‘Hardwood Dreams’ and that became the foundation for Tollin Robbins. We developed and did the pilot for ‘All That’ on Nickelodeon, we did ‘Arliss’ on HBO, and also we made a Hank Aaron documentary for Turner which got nominated for a Peabody. All this happened in the first year and a half — an amazing start for our company.

“From ‘All That’ we were able to make our first feature film, ‘Good Burger,’ which Dan Schneider co-wrote and I directed. I really had only directed a couple of things for Nickelodeon, and Paramount let me direct it and it worked out really well. Right after that I got the script for ‘Varsity Blues.’ From there we were legitimately in the movie business, and I was a director.

“We got a deal with Warner Bros. to do television shows. And that’s how ‘Smallville,’ ‘What I Like About You’ and eventually ‘One Tree Hill’ happened.”

So what is his formula for success? The director is not really forthcoming on that one. “I don’t know if I have a secret and if I had one I probably wouldn’t tell you,” he replies. “I think TV is a whole other animal but movies are completely intangible. You think you have a good script and you assemble a good cast, and then you work really hard to try and make the best movie you can but you really don’t know how it’s going to turn out until you’re sitting in a movie theater and watching the first preview.”

And if you go by Robbins, he is just beginning to figure it out. “I’m at the point now that if I’m working on a movie for three or four weeks and I watch it the first time I know whether we are in really good shape or if … I’m not sure. ‘Norbit’ was amazing. I thought ‘Norbit’ worked as soon as I put that thing on a monitor. I thought it worked so well, it played so loud and so uproarious, that it was really a thrill.”

If there’s one thing Robbins knows, besides sports and actors, it’s comedy, but he doesn’t know why. It’s not something you can analyze, he says. “Comedy is so amazing. It’s a strange thing. It’s hard to manufacture. I was talking to Eddie the other day and we were watching something and it got such a big laugh and I said God that was so funny. Eddie said, ‘Why was that so funny?’ And I said, ‘I can’t tell you why.’ I think the one gift that I’ve gotten is after so many hours of television and so many types of movies — I’ve spent the last 10 years constantly in production — it’s just experience.”

__________________________
Noë Gold is a contributor to Variety and former features editor at the Hollywood Reporter, editor-in-chief of Movies USA, Bikini and Guitar World and columnist for the Village Voice and the New York Daily News. His interviews with Cameron Crowe, Frank Zappa and other luminaries may be found at www.noemedia.net and www.doctornoemedia.com .

Brian Robbins in the Sun Newspapers 6-29-07

2007-07-13T00:38:00.001-07:00

Brian Robbins in the Sun Newspapers-6-29-07
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Noë's Reindeer speaks

2007-07-10T11:32:00.001-07:00

THIS POEM was dealt up by my Warrior Brother Ken Iverson one fine July day. Seems a fitting way to cap the thread on being, doing and nothingness.

I’ll just sit with these thoughts for a while.

POWERFUL WORDS ABOUT SILENCE

Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity.

But silence is impossible.

Silence screams.

Silence is a message, just as doing nothing is an act.

Let who you are ring out & resonate in every word & deed.

Yes, become who you are.

There is no sidestepping your own being or your own responsibility.

What you do is who you are.

You are your own comeuppance.

You become your own message.

You are the message.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse

Leonard Peltier

good words 4 u >>> www.noemedia.net
www.doctornoemedia.com
“take 2 clicks and call me in the morning”

Noë's Reindeer speaks
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Infrared Palm Silhouette

2007-07-07T19:04:00.001-07:00

Infrared Palm Silhouette
Originally uploaded by *Hiro

A Visual Calculus for Living.

I have to say, the idea of blogging had no appeal to me unless there was some sort of visual orientation in the mix. More than some. It seems to me the digital playground afforded by this alchemical medium is set up best for mixed media. That is, the full onslaught of impulses -- graphic, aural, sensory in every way.

So I thought I'll pre-blog this blog entry with the following exegesis in a semiotic way to turn it up, slap it down and scratch that metaphorical turntable that is my keyboard as I sit here at my desk flipping through my favorite digital toy, the flickr photo ossessionista social network where such creative souls as Hiro (http://www.flickr.com/people/hiro_oshima/) of New York, my home town, hang out.

Now this picture gets me ruminating on another hot phenomenon that has something to do with palm trees. Specifically, the guru of mu Ubu, the poobah of the New American Novel Megillah, William Faulkner. Even more specifically, his genre-shattering Wild Palms, a first-edition copy in "near fine" shape in a "near fine jacket." Notwithstanding "a little soiling to the upper cover and some light wear to the top lower corner" the book is a nice copy in a First Edition and is rated Fine/Fine. It'll set you back a mere $1,700 in this hallowed spot: http://www.biblio.com/books/66393583.html.

Or you could go to the library, use their free bandwith as you're reading their copy of this literary bible and go to interesting sites like this blog and my more tech-talk-oriented one at http://www.doctornoemedia.com.

Cheers,
| Noë Gold | noe@doctornoemedia.com |

“take 2 clicks and call me in the morning”

Loving The Spin I'm In

2007-07-06T21:49:00.001-07:00

Loving The Spin I'm In
Originally uploaded by andyi

This is from my flickr buddy Andy Ihnatko, who continues to astound me. I'm not sure if his entire text gets blogged to my site when I click 'blog this,' so here is his caption for the photo of the older woman with the batons. It inspired me, and I hope it inspires you:

Here's a good opportunity to muse on the subject of the Freak Flag. This woman is flying hers gloriously and proudly...as she should.

(Oh, and she was a really good baton-twirler, too.)

A Freak Flag is a treasured item and comes with a certain responsibility. Whoever gave you yours trusted you not to simply fold it carefully and toss it in a drawer. Nope, a Freak Flag is meant to be flown high and flown hard.

Not everyone is blessed with one. A Freak Flag is a source of joy that's uniquely yours. For some, it's going to conventions dressed up as Boba Fett. Others hang enough Christmas lights on their house every year to trick animals into emerging from hibernation early. Maybe last month you read something in the morning paper and then, pausing only long enough to claim a personal day, you drove 180 miles to get your picture taken with a life-sized butter sculpture of Elvis. It could be something as simple as a pair of green plaid pants that you adore, and which you wear any time you think you can get away with it.

By celebrating your personal joy, you add to the whole of the Universe.

If people are going to laugh...hell, let 'em. You're not doing this to win other people's approval, and laughter is valuable at nearly any cost. Plus, if the sight of your Freak Flag inspires just one bystander to do something he thought of a few years ago but immediately dismissed as silly, then clearly, the gods chose well when they put one in your hands.

I heartily salute this woman. If it's been many years since you left your teens and your swimmer's physique behind and yet you're still twirling batons, then it's clearly not just something you do as an after-school hobby. It's part of who you are, as permanent and documentary as a tattoo. And it's a gesture of great generosity to share that sort of joy with thousands of strangers.

A Freak Flag that's never flown is like a toy that's kept in the package, a song that's unsung, or a great movie that burns up before anyone thinks to transfer it from its original nitrate stock.
Comments
view profile
dvsjr Pro User says:

Amen.
Posted 29 hours ago. ( permalink )
view profile
jimery Pro User says:

After chuckling out loud, I had to pass the laptop around the room for all to see. That is certainly a good'n.
Posted 24 hours ago. ( permalink )
view profile
Doctor Noe says:

Andy, it is a joy and a pleasure to be your contact. I hope you are collecting all this shit and putting it in a book. Because it's too good to waste.

Hendrix is mah man!

The G
Posted 2 minutes ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )

NoeDisneyGoofy•6-25-07_09.JPG

2007-06-30T01:47:00.001-07:00

NoeDisneyGoofy•6-25-07_09.JPG
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

You need a little bit of Goophilosophy once in a while.

NoeDisney6-25-07_06.JPG

2007-06-30T01:46:00.001-07:00

NoeDisney6-25-07_06.JPG
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

Disneyland is cool

NoeHwood1-22-07.JPG

2007-06-30T01:45:00.001-07:00

NoeHwood1-22-07.JPG
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

On the Paramount lot. Can you see the Hollywood sign?

Noe Gold aka Middle Walter

2007-06-30T00:57:00.001-07:00

OakK-6PicnicNoe_20small.jpg
Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe

In my bluesman alter ego, Middle Walter, I have performed with/for various and sundry, including Joe Satriani, Paul Butterfield and Van Morrison.