I hate this fuckin' computer. I just lost a long R.I.P. to Richard Pryor, who died earlier today. Not rewriting it for reasons listed below.
Anyway, short version: he was the best, and one of my heroes. (Like Miles one of my really flawed heroes, but I have no problem appreciating the genius despite being appalled by the man. Plus I think Pryor's intentions, and probably self-awareness, were way better than Miles' even if his conduct wasn't. Not sure if that should matter to me, but it does.) Anyway, if you want to know what all the fuss is about rent the video of his first concert film (the 1979 one where he was still coked out of his mind.) Roger Ebert once picked it as the funniest movie ever. His WB box set, ...And It's Deep Too -- a beautiful and apt play on the punchline to one of his greatest jokes (it's from "Mudbone: Little Feets" and memorable enough that I remember where I first heard it over twenty years ago) -- is worth the price, but the Rhino anthology excerpts a lot of the best material if you're reluctant to get the box. Christgau on the box: "These albums comprise a great body of performed literature, their only drawback their lack of videos." Agree 100%.
My "recovery" is going in the wrong direction. It could be a mere coincidence that the pain came roaring back after my 800 posts the other day, but I'm going back to lurking for a while. A related digression: I had an MRI on Thursday. Don't know if anyone here has had one, but they gave me earplugs and the sort of ear protectors airline guys wear, which came as a surprise. With the protection it wasn't overly loud, but there were a lot of sounds. At one point in the process I was giggling because it sounded like they were pumping in some Philip Glass or Terry Riley. There was the main, low-pitched THUNK THUNK THUNK, and on top of that a slightly higher-pitched, syncopated DUH DUH DUH, and a third higher-pitched tone. Each one was pretty consistent but each one also varied slightly every now and then -- as if a minimalist composer had programmed the machine. Maybe John Cage is the name I'm looking for since it was basically found music. I'm not recommending that you get an MRI -- it wasn't unpleasant, but I don't think your insurance will cover it for this "condition" -- but if God forbid you need one pay attention to the sounds.
And the Richard Thompson post I mentioned the other day will have to wait, too. Short version: I just bought a remastered version of Hokey Pokey & was disappointed/irritated. Disappointed because it didn't sound that great; irritated because a couple tracks are unlabeled alternate takes. Not remixes, not "the remastering is a revelation!" -- different recordings. One of the customer comments on Amazon quotes RT from his website & he was underwhelmed, too. He was also irritated by the bonus tracks, but that was part of the appeal to me. They're tacked on to the end, not stuck in the middle, and only two of the five are from Hokey Pokey. Moreover one was a Peel session and the other a live track, so I don't really understand the objection that "There was a reason they got left off in the first place." They weren't alternates, they're completely different recordings. Anyway, one of them is either the 7th or 8th version of "A Heart Needs a Home" that I have. Ay yi yi! Good thing I love the song. Fave version is the alternate take that showed up on Gtr, Vocal. The Buddy Holly cover, "Wishing," was a let down, but Merle Haggard's "I'm Turning Off a Memory" justifies the purchase. Then again my Linda love is almost certainly stronger than your Linda love, so take the previous sentence with a grain of salt. Bright Lights and Pour Down Like Silver have also been remastered and released with bonus tracks. I plan to get them, but my guess is that the yahoos who remastered this one screwed the pooch on the others, too. I'm not a completist, but I am fanatical enough to buy them for the bonus tracks & possible alternate takes. I can pass on the bonuses to Corwood, Hec, & any other Thompsons fetishists. Speaking of which, Corwood, I was going to preorder the new box set today so I'd be sure to get the bonus disc that comes with the first 5000 orders, but it was clear from either the U.S. or English site if the offer is still good. I sent them an email to find out. If they haven't reached the threshhold I'll preorder as soon as I hear. If they have reached it I'll request it for my birthday (it's coming out a couple days after.) Anyway, anyone who is thinking of buying it can take your time deciding; I'll be happy to copy the bonus disc for you. Assuming I get in under the wire, of course.
And with that I'll resume my Angel-like ways. "How'd you know that?" "I lurk."