The Kinks.  I love them.  I love Ray Davies, the writer of this song, “Autumn Almanac,” an absolute stunning piece of musical genius from 1967.  A lot happened in 1967.  It was the year when the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper to critical and international fame, when Jimi Hendrix was revolutionizing the use of the electric guitar, and when the world’s youth was dropping acid and dreaming of the future.  Ray Davies was thinking of the past; of autumn days, his old school notebook, hiking in the woods, and Sunday dinners.  There is no better writer of nostalgic pop then Ray, and this song is his shining anthem to that feeling.  At his creative height, Ray challenged the Beatles in terms of melodic brilliance and was as good as Bob Dylan in creating emotive original lyrics.  He was that good, and “Autumn Almanac” is one of his best songs and greatest examples of his powers.  The song is a stream of consciousness, both lyrically, and melodically, but its not without coherence, form, and beauty.  The song exists at the limit of creativity a person can achieve with an acoustic guitar writing in the pop song format.  I hope you enjoy it.

Holy shit, did you know that the guy who co-wrote the original Spider-Man theme song with Bob Harris was 3 time Oscar winner Paul Francis Webster?  I know, WEBster, you can’t make that shit up!  The original theme song to the classic 1967 cartoon, and now classic internet meme, “Spider-Man,” was a work of genius.  The lyrics are phenomenal, the melody impossible to forget, and the driving bass line addictive as all can be.  Thank God the Ramones knew this too and made a secret music video to celebrate their secret hidden track found on 1995 Adios Amigos! vinyl.  This is a dynamic video of the Ramones in their later years and features Joey and the rocking out the tune on a NYC skyscraper.  Look out for the Twin Towers, no ones editing these babies out of this movie.  Amazing!

Making a television show is difficult, especially one like Saturday Night Live where all the content is written and produced a week in advance before live airing.  From the looks of this video, making an SNL is a long an tedious process.  Here, they are just making a promo spot, and even though this video is edited to 9 minutes, it probably took well over an hour.  It’s fantastic to watch though.  First you have Eddie Vedder, appearing in April of 1994, a few days after Kurt Cobain killed himself.  Eddie and Pearl Jam did a nice little tribute to Kurt as you can see in the picture above with the “K” on Eddie’s chest.  That’s just a bit of rock and roll history, but in this clip you get to see a nervous and very young Adam Sandler yuck it up with Eddie, whom Adam is clearly enamored with.  You also get to see the oddly detached Emilio Estevez, famous brother of Charlie Sheen, and son of Martin Sheen, interact with these other two icons of film and music.  At one point Eddie asks Emilio, how’s it been this week, to which Emilio replies, “I believe everything’s been good, just fine.”  It was awkward, and Emilio looks like he’d rather be anywhere else then with some long haired grunge rocker and with the jittery nutbar Adam Sandler.  This video is fascinating and revealing, and an awesome time capsule of one of SNL’s golden eras.  Check it out!

I’ve never heard anyone but Bob Marley refer to the sun as the “high yellow moon.”  Fantastic poetry.  “Concrete Jungle,” from Catch a Fire, is one of the bleakest songs about urban dystopia you will ever hear.  It was the lead-off track from Bob’s 1973 masterpiece, Catch a Fire, and is an incredible piece of dark reggae funk.  Bob’s melody is 100% authentic emotion, and his brilliance lies in this fact.  Whenever I hear this song, Bob puts me in his shoes, and lets me stare right through his eyes.  The live performance below is culled from the “Old Grey Whistle Test,” whatever that was, and is just a strait up reminder of what the world is missing today, namely, Bob Marley and the Wailers giving you some of the best music the world has ever heard.  Enjoy.