Comments on: What’s in a Song: Begin the Beguine (2)

By: John

John — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:17:36 +0000

@Louise Garnant – Thank you — that IS interesting. It’s almost beginning to seem that the song has more connections to Meher Baba than to Cole Porter!

By: Louise Garnant

Louise Garnant — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:27:20 +0000

An interesting note — The Divine Magees/Osaka Pearl are also followers of Meher Baba.

By: Have I Forgotten to Remember to Answer the Right Question?

Have I Forgotten to Remember to Answer the Right Question? — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:04:51 +0000

[...] reference to “Baba O’Riley” caught my eye at once — for reasons probably no one but I will probably remember. Or forget, for that [...]

By: Javi

Javi — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00:43 +0000

Great! Too many friends in one song!

By: John

John — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:09:54 +0000

brudder: Once again, you leave me gobsmacked.

I think this is all a sign from the universe that you should learn how to play it on the harmonica.

By: s.o.m.e.one's brudder

s.o.m.e.one's brudder — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:15:10 +0000

More “Begin” weirdness – turned on Sirius Jazz station this weekend for the first time in months. What’s the first song that comes on: Art Tatum’s version of “Begin…”. Clearly, I’m haunted.

By: John

John — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:23:16 +0000

brudder: I’m a great noticer of and believer in coincidence, but you’re right: this goes a little beyond the pale!

I think I listened to Quadrophenia exactly once, in the basement of a friend who later became a brother-in-law. Wasn’t it supposed to have been created to take advantage of the “new” “quadrophonic” sound? (Like Firesign Theatre’s Everything You Know Is Wrong, I think.) Whatever happened to quadrophonic sound, anyhow? Did it go the way of HD-DVD in the Blu-Ray world?

My own recaptcha: outdone $100-million.

By: s.o.m.e.one's brudder

s.o.m.e.one's brudder — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:58:43 +0000

one other thought regarding the PT version (is there another one? oh yeah, just read the rest of this post Mike, duh!): that opening is preview of coming attractions. Listen to Quadrophenia and you will find a much more melancholy use of a nearly identical soundscape (maybe the very same – listen for the gulls), especially at the beginning (coincidentally?) of “Sea and Sand”. Uses this device throughout the two LP set – an “environmental” sound just before either some burst of vocal, drum explosion by Keith Moon, or blasting guitar chord. Reminder that even great artists learn to steal…er, ahem… reinterpret…. from themselves.

By: s.o.m.e.one's brudder

s.o.m.e.one's brudder — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:46:06 +0000

okay, this is a bit TOO weird. Travel the byways of the internet this weekend. I found and downloaded one of my all time favorite albums: “Who Came First”, including some bonus tracks. I had not read this column first. Upon listening to said bonus tracks I encountered the last song – Begin the Beguine and was floored that Townsend had recorded it for ANY reason. Immediately jumped to RAMH so that I could post this recent find on the comments part of Part I of this thread only to be greeted by the smiling countenance of Meher Baba. Someone please tell me that Rod Serling is still alive. Cue music please…..TZone theme song, that is…. (recaptcha: issues canvassed). This really is a Twilight Zone episode, or did you just set up a web cam in my office?

By: John

John — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:43:37 +0000

Froog: Haven’t seen De-Lovely, no. Would you recommend it?

While working on this two-part series, I had the YouTube clip of Ms. Crow’s version in the various drafts, right up until about an hour before I closed it off. Ultimately decided not to include it because it seemed like an easy choice. Dang, if I’d known I was on the brink of scooping you I might have reconsidered!

cynth: You know, I would have been crushed if you hadn’t commented on this topic at all — especially on the Astaire number. That’s a great story about his forgetting himself for a moment!