A brush with fame is an exciting event in anyone's life.
Be sure to visit the BRUSH PILE:
https://www.angelfire.com/yt/gardenofpoetry/brush.html
Except for a whack at the odd air cymbal from time to time, I never tried being an air musician until my cyber friend, Kats
inpspired me through The Dave Clark Five message board. Of course, if you really do play, but also air play, it is for you too!
Air players don't just play air, though do they? Tennis rackets, brooms, dasboards, knees, tables - what ever happens to be close by.
This is for Kats, and ALL you Cyber Fiver Air Musicians! Thanks for the INSPIRATION
There's Music In The Air
An air guitar played to perfection
has its player in a rockin' frenzy.
The air drummer's predilection
for paradiddles really sends me.
And that guy pounding air piano
ain't just sweatin' air, ya know!
The air saxophonist has got the moves
that send him frothing in a tizzy.
But that air bass man's so smooth
he makes no move that makes him dizzy!
I find myself pondering, now this has been said:
If I'm a fan of such a band, am I an air-head?
Yvette L Maurey 31 Aug 1999
ELVIS 1993
Elvis is alive and well--OH!
I saw him with the Brodsky Quartet
Not Presley, but Costello
Singing his "Letters to Juliet."
1 Jan 1994
Here's one I wrote in sympathy for Tom Petty's legal battle with a publishing company trying to gain control of the rights to his songs/music. Written in December 1994, I have yet to decide on the title:
BEYOND PETTY or PETTY THEFT
or maybe BEYOND PETTY THEFT
What kind of thief steals your very soul?
A covetous wretch seeking to control
That, to which you gave a kind of birth.
That kind of thief laughs at your dearth.
DAMN THE TORPEDOES! you played out your heart
And mind to give life to your art.
YOU wrote it; it's YOURS, or so it should be.
DON'T BACK DOWN--you'll become a REFUGEE.
This next one was inspired by, Bette Midler's appearance on Charlie Rose 7 July 1999. It is not about Bette. She made me cry, and I knew she would, even before I watched the program. She is so funny! And so much a regular girl! She is me, if I could sing!
The Sublime Mz. M
What do I really want?
There are no wings beneath my wreath.
I used to be funny
Or at least people knew I was funny
When I used to dance at parties.
Now I go to parties and sit alone.
I watch other people laugh and dance
And they make ME laugh
And I smirk to myself
"They don't know how funny I am!"
Oh, Lord, won'tcha buy me
A half pint at the Cock and Bull
So I don't have to remember that
There are no wings beneath my wreath
There is no one to lead the dance.
"What do women want?" asked Sigmund
"They just wanna dance!" answered Bette
"She's only happy when she's dancin'." sang Bryan
I can dance better alone than with a fool who can't lead.
They just don't know how good a dancer I am.
When you see me at the next wedding
I'll watch you laugh and dance
But you just remember
You're laughing because I'm funny
And you don't know how well I can dance.
Yvette L Maurey
8 July 1999
When people read this next one, I am often asked "What were you taking when you wrote that?" Nothing. I didn't do drugs! I was inspired to write about those whose music touched my life.
THE STEAMING STORM
The steaming storm screamed in stereo
to the sound of McCartney's piano
while wings on wonder flew about
and tears of sadness fell without.
Electric pictures on the wall
flash their colors across the hall
patterning Clapton's eyes and Jimi's moustache
upon those walls greyed with ash.
I often find it hard to try
to understand the reason why
Celebration of the Lizard
makes Morrison such a wizard.
Stacks of reflections await to rise
on mirrors other sides
while poets try to think up rhymes
and broken clocks give wrong times.
circa 1968
Again, in early 2007, feeling inspired to write about those whose music has helped to shape who I am...
ROCKING MORTALITY
Back when Mick was pertty
in nineteen sixty-eight
and Yoko was the screecher
true Beatle fans loved to hate
Keith Moon was still drumming
Brian Jones was still strumming
John Lennon was still humming.
I saw the WHO, CREAM, and Jimi;
When they were all the rage.
Now Clapton and the living ones
rock on to tour and grace the stage.
Mick Jagger is still grinning
Pete Townsend's hair is thinning
And Rock'n'Rollers are still spinning!
February 2007
MOVED
was inspired by the finding of a dance band card in
with my collection of Beatle bubble gum cards.
Look what I found
in some of my old stuff--
Half a movie ticket
and a fuzzy bit of fluff.
Look what I found
in with my Beatle cards--
a picture of you in '68
standing in the yard.
Look what I found
with some of my old things--
a Sanhedrin Move card;
memories dance & sing! 1 May 1994
Best of The Beatles
Who could've taken them seriously without a drummer of their own?
Yet, with "rented" drummers they were well-liked and known.
A chance to play the Hamburg scene, called for someone permanent to drum.
So Paul made a call to Pete, and they expanded into a five-some.
They called themselves The Beatles - John, George, Paul, Stu and Pete.
Playing the Kaiserkeller, Pete plied that rockin' beat.
But Stu wasn't very happy playing bass; didn't think that he fit in.
Paul wanted to play bass, and taunted Stu into quittin.'
George was deported back to England 'cause he was only seventeen.
The other three stayed and played the Top Ten Club scene.
Then Pete, John and Paul were sent packing back as well.
So they played some Liverpool clubs and the Cavern for a spell.
As soon as George was legal, and the four of them got work permits,
They went back to Hamburg to become Tony Sheridan's backing outfit.
But when they arrived back in Hamburg, they were told Stu had died
Just that very morning, and Paul and Peter cried.
But they'd returned for a purpose, backing Tony on recorded tracks.
"My Bonnie"/"The Saints" hit the States, and birds and booze were never alack!
They soon returned to Liverpool and back to the Cavern Club
Where they had quite a following. Just what WAS the hubbub?
Pete was so good looking, he made the other three look drab!
He didn't wear the Beatle style - his hair was naturally fab!
Time came to record on their own. George Martin said a "session man"
Should be used on the drums. To sound "experienced," was his plan.
This professional remark was quite misunderstood
By John, Paul and George, to mean Pete was not so good.
So, Brian quickly fired Pete, but asked him if he would stay
Until Ringo could step in on the following Saturday.
Pete was stunned - so stunned he couldn't answer.
And so until that Saturday, they "rented" another drummer!
At last it was time for the four to take to the studio.
George Martin used a session drummer instead of Pete OR Ringo!
This made Ringo think (being the new recruit)
they were doing a "Pete" on him, and giving HIM the boot!
Pete had laid the groundwork; gone through the toughest times.
To be sacked on the verge of fame seemed such a filthy crime.
He'd played the sleazy Hamburg clubs, enduring low-life goings-on
Cramped in dirty sleeping rooms, and then to be so stung!
Don't get me wrong, my friend - I love Ringo dearly.
But Pete was taken advantage of by someone not seeing clearly.
I just often wonder if, in answer to my quest,
anyone can tell me, "What's happened to Pete Best?"
9 May 1994 (with thanks to Gareth L. Pawlowski's How They Became The Beatles)
