Stuck Inside Of 2006 With The 1966 Blues Again.

At lunch one day, some freaks I work with and I got into a stupid (though entertaining) discussion: If you could go back in time and witness a particular historic event, what would it be?

Someone named the signing of the Declaration Of Independence. Somebody else picked an event from the life of Jesus—one of the miracles, I think. Another, JFK's assassination. Mine was a little less monumental, perhaps: Bob Dylan's 1966 European tour. I guess the one to see would be the Manchester Free Trade Hall show from May 17, the one where someone yelled "Judas!" right before Bob and The Band kicked into a really nasty "Like A Rolling Stone." That's the show documented on the "Live 1966" CD. Forty years have not blunted the power of this music. It's all energy, anger and spite. (And poetry.)

This photo is from that show. Dig that suit and how well it goes with the Telecaster. Don't you wish you'd been there?

Great Moments In Cinema #23: The Birth Of John Wayne

Today is John Wayne's birthday. Here he is in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" from 1962, one of his last films with director John Ford. It's as good a Western as you'll ever see, one of Ford's finest films, and a criminally underappreciated classic. It was pretty much dismissed when it came out, and its reputation has grown steadily amongst us movie geeks ever since. By the way, this is the film the whole John Wayne impersonation "Pilgrim" thing comes from.

Next time you see it--you HAVE seen it haven't you?--pay attention to the steaks they eat in the saloon. They're huge! Served on plates bigger than most serving trays, the beef hangs off the edge as Jimmy Stewart passes them out to hungry cowboys like Wayne, Andy Devine and Lee Marvin.

Also notice that the bulk of the picture was shot on the backlot in pretty flat-looking black and white. Ford was paying homage to his silent film days, right down to the hat Wayne wears. Oh, the Gene Pitney song of the same name is not heard in the film.

Aside from being one of my favorite Westerns, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" has special significance to me. My wife and I watched it on our honeymoon back in 1998 at a dude ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona. Even if it stunk, it'd be one of my favorite films.

Happy Birthday, Duke. If it was up to me, the banks and post offices would be closed, the kids would be home from school, and we'd all be watching "The Searchers," "Rio Bravo" and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" on TV.

Great Moments In Cinema #6: My Darling Clementine

A great image from a great film, 1946's "My Darling Clementine." This is a John Ford movie, which kinda lets you know what to expect. It also tells you it's gonna be better than about anything else you've ever seen. Never been a huge Henry Fonda fan, but I sure love him in this one.

Wish I had this shot about three feet tall hanging above my fireplace.

Tom Verlaine: "Daddy, his singing's wobbly."

If you're looking for an objective review of Tom Verlaine's new CDs, best keep looking.

In June of 1996, I flew to New York to see Tom Verlaine at Tramps. Great show. He debuted a few new songs that night, one of which was this crazy, noisy thing called "All Weirded Out." Trapped in the Atlanta airport the next day, I had the chorus stuck in my head. (There's a bootleg CD of that show floating around.)

Almost 10 years later, I crack open "Songs And Other Things," Verlaine's first vocal CD since 1990's "The Wonder." Track 12: "All Weirded Out." And again, that damn chorus is nailed into my head.

This could be his best solo work yet, which is saying quite a bit. They're all different, all brilliant. Here, he may have found the perfect balance between his experimental and poppier sides. Accessibly weird, you could say. Or maybe weirdly accessible. Some have complained that the lyrics seem unfinished, which sounds like the complaints of someone who hasn't paid much attention to the lyrics of his previous works. (I love the line about the "five ugly bugs.") His riffs and solos are as amazing as ever, and he still sings like he has a mouthful of tapioca pudding. My daughter says he sings "wobbly." She's right.

1992's "Warm And Cool" was a collection of moody instrumentals featuring Verlaine's incredible, textured guitar. (Back then, everybody drew comparisons to the music from "Twins Peaks.") "Around" picks up where that one left off. Some of the stuff feels like fragments, chunks of bigger pieces. Others fall in line with what we think of as "songs." They've all got Verlaine's ringing guitar tone and veer off in unexpected directions. Billy Ficca, the drummer for Television, provides incredible support throughout, totally at ease with Verlaine's improvisations. Nobody plays jazzy drums in rock n roll the way Billy does.

Not much in new music does much for me anymore. I kinda collect records backwards, going back in time as I get bored with what I'm currently listening to: punk to garage to surf to rockabilly to country to easy listening to exotica. I haven't been this excited about a new release in a long, long time. Except maybe that T Bone Burnett thing that's on the way.

Watch this one again.

I recently picked up the DVD of the 1974 Clint Eastwood thing "Thunderbolt And Lightfoot." I'd seen it plenty of times, mostly as a kid when it used to crop up on TV.

But seeing it again, uninterrupted, and with its Panavision framing preserved, this movie impressed the hell out of me. Here, we get a hint at the kind of performances Eastwood would give later and a good, Oscar-nominated turn by Jeff Bridges. The film's successful juggling of comedy and drama simply wouldn't work if these guys weren't up to the task.

It's a pretty standard Seventies combination character study/buddy/road/crime movie, played for laughs much of the time. Eastwood is The Thunderbolt and Bridges is Lightfoot. I'm not gonna bother with the plot.

Michael Cimino writes and directs (for the first time), and we can assume he should be thanked for much of the picture's breezy charm. This has none of the bloat and pretense of his later "Deer Hunter" or "Heaven's Gate," but instead the pace and efficiency we know from Eastwood's own direction or his work with the great Don Siegel.

The capable cast--rounded out by George Kennedy and Goeffrey Lewis--give many of the scenes an improvised feel, quite rare for a genre film. (Eastwood and Bridges' scene at the park, when Bridges finds out Clint's the fabled crooked Thunderbolt, is a good example.) The heist itself is well done and exciting. And many of the set pieces along their journey are a real hoot, such as Bill McKinney's crazed, muscle-car-driving redneck.

Given the stuff that's turning up in multiplexes these days, I've found that a lot of the Sixties and Seventies action movies seem like true masterpieces. Unlike today's stuff, there's nothing in "Thunderbolt And Lightfoot" that feels manufactured or test-marketed. So, if you haven't seen it in a while, you might want to watch it again. If you've never seen it, by all means do--if you're a fan of stuff like this.

By the way, the poster art you see here was done by Robert McGinnis. McGinnis is known for his James Bond movie posters of the Sixties and Seventies and for thousands of paperback covers. You can check out his work here: http://www.graemeflanagan.com/robert_mcginnis/index.html

Great Moments In Cinema #17

Today, I'll keep it quick.

I'm guessing this was taken during the shooting of "Rio Bravo," but there's a chance it coulda been "The Sons Of Katie Elder." Whatever, it's a cool picture of two of my favorite people, John Wayne and Dean Martin, making spaghetti. Odds are, there's an adult beverage or two just out of the frame.

Snagged this picture off the web somewhere. No credits. Sorry.

It came from Thomasville!

Not that you should care, but I was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Small town. Pretty place. Hot and humid in the summertime.

By the mid-Seventies, I was living elsewhere. But as a monster-obsessed kid (and loyal subscriber to Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine), I was damn proud to be a product of "The City Of Roses."

Why? Because Robb White had lived there.

Robb White wrote a number of books, often about naval stuff, that had been hits with younger readers. "Virgin Island." "Up Periscope." "Secret Sea." 21 in all.

In 1958, he teamed up with the great William Castle to write a handful of horror films, true masterpieces of hokum devised solely to scare the hell out of little kids--and make lots of money: "Macabre," "House On Haunted Hill," "13 Ghosts," "The Tingler" and "Homicidal." All featured some sorta gimmick to really drive the thing home. "Macabre" insured you against death by fright. "House On Haunted Hill" gave us Emergo, which floated a plastic skeleton over the crowd. "13 Ghosts" required a Ghost Viewer to see the various spirits. And "The Tingler" put little buzzers under the seats (Percepto) to give you an extra jolt during the climax. If movies ever got any better than this, I haven't heard of it.

Years ago, the Film Forum in New York brought back "The Tingler." My best friend, James Graham, invited me up for a day that ranks right up there with my wedding and the birth of my daughter.

Most of these films are available on DVD, "13 Ghosts" with its gimmick lovingly preserved. You need them.

And here's to Robb White, who really deserves a sign at the Thomasville city limits.

Oh boy, another blog.

So, here we are. Kinda like a couple on a blind date looking at each other awkwardly across the little table in a coffee shop.

Okay, I'll go first. Let's see. The name's Toby. I'm a freelance advertising copywriter. You know, ads, brochures, TV commercials, web sites, stuff like that. I love (good) advertising and I love my work, but there are times it makes me feel slimy and gross. I'm like the guy that pumps out your septic tank--can't wait to take a shower after work.

I collect records, have since I was 12 or so. Started with The Beatles (like most folks) and James Bond soundtracks and went from there. Lots of Sixties surf and garage stuff. Fifties easy listening. Rockabilly. Sixties country. Punk. You get the picture. Favorite Beatles LP? Either "Help!" or "Rubber Soul." Favorite LP of all time? Right now, it's a tie between "Funhouse" by The Stooges, "Arthur" by the Kinks, "(The) Ventures In Space" and almost anything Tom Verlaine had anything to do with.

Favorite movie? That's an easy one: "Where Eagles Dare." Greatest movie ever made? Probably "The Searchers." My dad was collecting movies before I was born--long before home video--so I'm a bit of an expert on old movies, especially horror movies, crime pictures and westerns from the Fifties and Sixties. (Thanks to my dad's collection, I had the privilege of seeing them on film vs. TV.) You can't beat a really good cowboy movie from the Fifties. For proof, check out "7 Men From Now."

Married. Have a five-year-old daughter named Presley. My family is truly great--and very tolerant of all my crap: LPs, CDs, books and other junk.

Lately, I've developed a bit of a thing for Sixties stereo equipment (like Marantz amps). Not sure why, maybe because it sounds better than the new stuff. Or maybe simply because it's OLD.

So why the blog? Hell, I wouldn't know. But it seems like something to do. And it lets me stick cool pictures and stuff on here for the three people who happen upon it to look at.

This first one is the Paragon, a swanky speaker system from JBL in the Fifties and Sixties. This thing now goes for thousands of dollars and weighs almost half a ton. Cool, huh? No, I don't have one. Dammit.