hermit12041963

It's rare to find someone who likes - bald language. Thank you.

Eh - I'm 45, past thinking that I can conquer the World, just in love with - making dinner and reading my next book. 20 years ago, I was young and not bad looking and people thought I had "potential" - and I was MISERABLE! I never thought that getting fat, going grey and bald, and not giving a damn about my clothes so long as they were clean and comfortable would be my Path to Happiness.

jcwirish

Led Zeppelin rocks! You should check out the Templar tarot if you like 70's rock. Someone on here once compared the artwork to the Grateful Dead. There's also a card in the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight that I think pays homage to the cover of 'Houses of the Holy'.

hermit12041963

I have an aversion to reading the biographies of the writers and artists and musicians whom I love: you can't really know anybody, never mind believing the hogwash that gets put into biographies (especially those of "stars") - but, that said, over the years, I've been told this and that by other fans, including that Jimmy Page has a keen interest in the Occult. I'm told he bought a house that once belonged to Aleister Crowley ... True enough, his "fantasy segment" in the film "The Song Remains the Same" was of himself climbing painfully up a hill-side (jagged rocks, false steps, a few near-falls). When he reached the hill-top, he saw there - The Hermit, lifting his lantern, holding his staff. When the camera focused on the face of The Hermit, it was Jimmy Page! ... I always loved that segment of the film ... Years ago, every Friday night, the 8th Street Theatre in Manhattan used to do a midnight show of "The Song Remains the Same" (they did "Rocky Horror" on Saturdays). We went week in and week out. Almost needless to say, our experience was - enhanced.

EDIT - corrected typo - Manhatt -e-n to Manhattan

jcwirish

Haha, I can remember (sort of) a few enhanced viewings of 'Rocky Horror' when I was much younger! I had a friend in high school who was a very accomplished drummer. He was the true Zeppelin fan, and he got me interested. He bought me a few albums. That's interesting about Jimmy Page and the Hermit. I wish I could remember what card it is from Tarot of the Sweet Twilight (I traded that deck a while ago), but it really is a rip off of the cover of 'Houses of the Holy'. Maybe someone will post it for you. Maybe 'rip off' is too harsh, but it does seem the artist was heavily influenced by the image from the album.

hermit12041963

I prefer the old albums to the cd's and the mp3's. Yes, it is a pain to have the music stop while you get up and flip the disc, but - I'm getting old. I like OLD things, dammit! - and the little pops and cracks that you hear are part of the experience! Artists took that into account when making the albums - that and having to flip the disc - and especially the size of the discs. The artwork on the lp's was - incredible! I love the old "fold out" jackets w/the artwork and the liner notes. And, if you're old enough, you were there for the promotional bits, like the Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers" albums that had real zippers on that pair of jeans on the cover (that was Joe Dallensandro's crotch - you may not have heard of him, but he was one of Andy Warhol's models and a part-time hustler - he's the "little Joe" from Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," who "never once gave it away.")

Now w/the downloads, you get - nothing!

I'm getting old. My tastes have really - changed. Saturday, Sunday, my radio is tuned to Johnathan Schwartz - I don't want to miss "Sinatra on Saturday" and "Sinatra on Sunday." Mel Torme, Dean Martin, Billy Holliday - even Rudee Vallee! - now that's going back! If you like the good old stuff, may I recommend "Stiles on Your Dials"? Danny Stiles does an old-time radio music program every Saturday night on NPR. Everybody from Tommy Dorsey to Glenn Miller to Louis Armstrong to Sophie Tucker. And he does novelty bits, too. The best is this old recording from a telethon. Lauren Baccall (sp?) came on and promised that Humphrey Bogart himself would sing "As Time Goes By" if a certain amount were met by a certain time. Of course, the pledges came in fast and furious. And Bogart did it! In an awful, raspy baritone, Bogart sang the whole of the song, beginning to end. Stiles always ends his program w/Shirley Temple singing "Goodnight, My Love." I love that old stuff. And I've acquired a taste for Country Music - never would have seen that coming!

jcwirish

Yes, I remember the album artwork. I'm 40, so I was a little young during the 70's, but I still remember all of my friends who had older siblings with all the albums. I remember how I loved the old ELO albums with the bright UFO's on the covers. I can remember how influenced I would be by the artwork. My aunt had a huge album collection and I would just sit and look them over while she played music. Younger people don't have that same experience anymore.

I love all kinds of music, everything from the Foo Fighters to Ella Fitzgerald. My husband is a huge jazz fan and has a massive collection. I prefer the older Big band Jazz like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, but my husband loves it all, and talks about people I have never even heard of. We are a pretty musical group around here. I live in Vegas, so I do have a fond appreciation for the Rat Pack, but I prefer Dean to Sinatra. I just loved his sense of humor and I can remember his old variety show. I loved how he would just start cracking himself up.

I guess we're just at that age where nostalgia sets in. I'm sounding like my grandma remembering the good ol' days.

hermit12041963

Yeah - your friends always had those older siblings who had great stuff - when they weren't beating you up or throwing you out of their rooms. I had a younger sister. Well - I still have her, but she's 37 now - so there was a big gap between us - though I did get PISSED when she got a Lite-Brite for Christmas one year. I had wanted one when I was that age - had begged for it but never got it. Oh, I was - MAD! And, all these years later, I REMEMBER!

Dean Martin had a better voice than Sinatra (though Sinatra had a beautiful voice in the early days, when he was still w/Tommy Dorsey, but his non-stop chainsmoking and a few vocal chord nodes that had to be surgically removed, well - ruined his voice) ... It wasn't the quality of his pipes that kept Sinatra on top: it was his talent for arranging the music and phrasing his vocals that kept him on top - and, more important, his style - his persona. Sinatra personified a lifestyle - a brand of living that the average Joe could only dream about. "The Chairman of the Board," as he was called, was an icon - a Super Star. Dean Martin and Sammy Davis and the other Rat Packers were mere satellites. That said - Martin was an INCREDIBLE talent, a handsome man w/a beautiful voice - and his own laid-back, devil-may-care persona. Martin was - underestimated, undervalued, especially as a Country Music singer. (He smoked as much if not more than Sinatra, but, through one of those mysterious quirks of biology, the smoking never damaged his voice. And smoking only made David Bowie's voice better - and he smoked twice what Sinatra and Martin combined smoked!)

Martin used to host the Celebrity Roasts. On one of them - and I forget who was being roasted - Don Rickles came up to the podium and took a look at Dean Martin: "Hey, Dean, your eyes are clear! What are you drinking tonight, Windex?" And Martin just raised his glass to Rickles and then took a big swig. (Martin liked to have people think that he was a lush - and he did his share of drinking - but he was never really a drunkard. Usually, it was iced-tea in his glass. It looks like scotch - but it's just - iced tea.)