Uhhhhh - Brotha Dan?? This Black guy made great use of Mr. Trower's talents way back when. The "Bridge Of Sighs" album (+ Thai stick and/or windowpane) never failed Da Bopper. It was and still remains a part of my epic Ol' Skool Sex 'Em Up/Sex 'Em Down mixtape. I'm still coming out of boxes so no access to the hard drive it's stored on, but I believe I swapped it with Yusuf for his Motown stuff a few years back. Ask him if he still has it.
I appreciate your first-hand insight, Doc! It’s good to know that Mr. Trower actually did have the power to seal the deal. (That said, I have a hard time imagining you ever sporting threads this bland!)
As a lifelong fellow non-getter of smoking, I almost posted a comment on your recent encomium to George Kooymans, saying that part of what proves the greatness of the Golden Earrings' Winter-Harvest LP is that "Smoking Cigarettes" is probably the only song about smoking that has ever really spoken to me. Maybe this was a sign that I should have done so.
Man, I’m not gonna argue with anyone chillin’ out to some Trower. By the way, the album on the floor is Joe Walsh’s live album from ‘76, ‘You Can’t Argue With a Sick Mind.”
Same! Funny, before I got to it in the story I was studying that album cover in the ad wondering...
My dad had the full liquor cabinet with all the era-proper accoutrements, plastic swizzle sticks from all over, jar full of matches from all over, the chrome double-sided shot measure, bartenders guide book, etc. To my parents horror, I was saving all the empty booze bottles and when I collected enough I made a "bar" in my dad's 'office' in the basement.
I laid it all out best I could just like the bars I'd see on tv, nicking glasses, swizzle sticks, straws, serviettes, filled the bottles with water and would fix "drinks" for my friends in the neighborhood. I proudly showed it off for the first time when my folks had friends over, at the time I didn't understand the look of horror on the adult faces in reaction to a little kid innocently mimicking their lifestyle!
The smoking thing fascinated me too, my parents evidently agreed to both stop smoking cigarettes when they got married but I remember my dad always smoking a pipe - another trendy rage of the times (like shaving with an electric razor while driving - or wherever...), the whole Borkum Riff & pipe collection with accessories on the hutch. The 'ol man's excuse was he only agreed to stop smoking cigarettes...
Along with the fascination with all the adult smokers and their ciggies and all the brands, it's all right up there in my 70's kid memories as clear as the day I studied mom's coffee and thought I put it all together with Carly Simon and those 'clouds' in there.
I had a friend whose dad smoked a pipe, and would spend hours carving up little bits of apple and mixing it with tobacco JUST SO. My friend and his brother thought it was lame and would tease him mercilessly about it, but I kind of appreciated the ritual of it.
Yes! It was amusing to watch those rituals expand when the 'ol man saw something he liked in a more "sophisticated" pipe smoker, he'd adopt those into his deal.
Thankfully, taking all those ads off of tv solved the addiction problem. Corporate greed is them most deadly addiction anyway, ain't it?!
I remember as a kid there was a billboard for Carlton cigarettes we would pass on the way to my grandma's place and it said "If you smoke, please try Carlton" and I remember my pre-adolescent brain thinking something along the lines of "that's really polite of them not to assume I smoke and to say please."
“Let’s grab a cab back to my place! I’ll sit in my comfy chair and you can — I dunno, sit on the floor in the corner!”
"What — you don't think my astroturf-colored shag carpet is comfy?"
The music, booze and cigarettes offer still works in modern day. 😉
Uhhhhh - Brotha Dan?? This Black guy made great use of Mr. Trower's talents way back when. The "Bridge Of Sighs" album (+ Thai stick and/or windowpane) never failed Da Bopper. It was and still remains a part of my epic Ol' Skool Sex 'Em Up/Sex 'Em Down mixtape. I'm still coming out of boxes so no access to the hard drive it's stored on, but I believe I swapped it with Yusuf for his Motown stuff a few years back. Ask him if he still has it.
I appreciate your first-hand insight, Doc! It’s good to know that Mr. Trower actually did have the power to seal the deal. (That said, I have a hard time imagining you ever sporting threads this bland!)
As a lifelong fellow non-getter of smoking, I almost posted a comment on your recent encomium to George Kooymans, saying that part of what proves the greatness of the Golden Earrings' Winter-Harvest LP is that "Smoking Cigarettes" is probably the only song about smoking that has ever really spoken to me. Maybe this was a sign that I should have done so.
Oh yeah, such a great song - but nope it never made me wanna light up, either!
I don't relate to it either but I sure got it on a deeper level due to John Prine's song "When I Get to Heaven" -
"And then I'm gonna get a cocktail
Vodka and ginger ale
Yeah, I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
'Cause this old man is goin' to town"
Man, I’m not gonna argue with anyone chillin’ out to some Trower. By the way, the album on the floor is Joe Walsh’s live album from ‘76, ‘You Can’t Argue With a Sick Mind.”
As the kids say, make THAT make sense.
Oh my god, you're right — that big circle on the cover is the disco ball! Good eye!
That said, I love pre-Eagles Walsh, but even THAT stereo system couldn't make that dull-sounding live LP come alive...
Ha! Ain't that the truth!
Same! Funny, before I got to it in the story I was studying that album cover in the ad wondering...
My dad had the full liquor cabinet with all the era-proper accoutrements, plastic swizzle sticks from all over, jar full of matches from all over, the chrome double-sided shot measure, bartenders guide book, etc. To my parents horror, I was saving all the empty booze bottles and when I collected enough I made a "bar" in my dad's 'office' in the basement.
I laid it all out best I could just like the bars I'd see on tv, nicking glasses, swizzle sticks, straws, serviettes, filled the bottles with water and would fix "drinks" for my friends in the neighborhood. I proudly showed it off for the first time when my folks had friends over, at the time I didn't understand the look of horror on the adult faces in reaction to a little kid innocently mimicking their lifestyle!
The smoking thing fascinated me too, my parents evidently agreed to both stop smoking cigarettes when they got married but I remember my dad always smoking a pipe - another trendy rage of the times (like shaving with an electric razor while driving - or wherever...), the whole Borkum Riff & pipe collection with accessories on the hutch. The 'ol man's excuse was he only agreed to stop smoking cigarettes...
Along with the fascination with all the adult smokers and their ciggies and all the brands, it's all right up there in my 70's kid memories as clear as the day I studied mom's coffee and thought I put it all together with Carly Simon and those 'clouds' in there.
I had a friend whose dad smoked a pipe, and would spend hours carving up little bits of apple and mixing it with tobacco JUST SO. My friend and his brother thought it was lame and would tease him mercilessly about it, but I kind of appreciated the ritual of it.
Yes! It was amusing to watch those rituals expand when the 'ol man saw something he liked in a more "sophisticated" pipe smoker, he'd adopt those into his deal.
Thankfully, taking all those ads off of tv solved the addiction problem. Corporate greed is them most deadly addiction anyway, ain't it?!
I remember as a kid there was a billboard for Carlton cigarettes we would pass on the way to my grandma's place and it said "If you smoke, please try Carlton" and I remember my pre-adolescent brain thinking something along the lines of "that's really polite of them not to assume I smoke and to say please."
Hahaha - the old “soft sell” approach!
If you ask me, it's the prominent cowbell on that Trower track that sealed the deal! Ha ha ha!
Ladies love cowbells!