From the author: "Some of my favourite American music comes from the 30s and 40s. Big band, swing, some jazz, bluegrass et al. Setting a chunk of America Dreaming in that era allows me to feature a plethora of my favourite tunes.
Stormy Weather has been mentioned in episode 7 with, in my opinion, the definitive version by Billie Holiday. Although Sinatra's take is lush and laced with a melancholy all its own.
Another all-time fave of mine is Blues In The Night. I defy you to find a sexier, sassier number. This is the sort of song that Amy Winehouse and Adele should have a crack at. Smoky, late night attitude crackles and sizzles throughout the song. Ella Fitzgerald breathes life into the song on her Ella Swings Lightly album, however, for real 40s punch you can't top Dinah Shore's version. This is the version that I first discovered back in 1986 thanks to my grandad, who had a huge collection of 30s and 40s swing and jazz. It simply blew me away! In fact, the summer of '86 saw me spending endless afternoons and evenings listening to these superb voices and tunes from a bygone era. Couple that to reading Steranko's History Of Comics all that long, hot summer and I was in some 40s twilight zone that I never wanted to leave!
Of course, Frank Sinatra had to take a swing at Blues In The Night. His version oozes orchestration and puts a male spin on the song but my money's still on Ms. Shore.
Other top-notch numbers from the days of the Great Depression, FDR and WWII have to include In The Mood - if one number could define American spirit in the war it's this one; Tuxedo Junction, Pennsylvania 6-5000, Gal In Kalamazoo, Woodchoppers' Ball, Little Brown Jug, Moonlight Seranade, American Patrol, Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree and Begin The Beguine.
I hope to include as many of these as I can as America Dreaming sprawls seemingly out of control over the coming weeks. Don't worry, there is a plan, except no-one's told me what it is!"
LEE DAVIS,
SOUTH OF THE RIVER - PINING FOR ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE.
Thursday 19 August 2010
AMERICA DREAMING EPISODE 7
FLASHBACK 1932...
Teddy and Paulie sat on a couple of old apple boxes on the sidewalk, heads sl;ouched into their hands as they thought about how to deal with Dagger Donovan.
"Shame we ain't got special powers like da Sentry," mused Paulie.
Teddy nodded slowly in agreement then raised his head, an idea sparking in his brain.
"That's it, Paulie!" he said loudly.
"What? What's it?" asked Paulie.
Teddy was up on his feet now, smiling.
"What's da ruckus, fella?" asked Paulie., "Youse ain't t'inkin' o' gettin' da Sentry t' help out?!"
Teddy shook his head quickly then revealed his plan.
"We get Big Boo to dress up as the American Sentry. He's the right size and everything. Then we use some tricks to scare Donovan and his creeps," enthused Teddy.
Paulie laughed and lit up his pipe.
"Sounds plain crazy t' me," he said. Then said to count him in.
And somewhere overhead, from a tenement block apartment window came the strains of Stormy Weather...
TO BE CONTINUED
Teddy and Paulie sat on a couple of old apple boxes on the sidewalk, heads sl;ouched into their hands as they thought about how to deal with Dagger Donovan.
"Shame we ain't got special powers like da Sentry," mused Paulie.
Teddy nodded slowly in agreement then raised his head, an idea sparking in his brain.
"That's it, Paulie!" he said loudly.
"What? What's it?" asked Paulie.
Teddy was up on his feet now, smiling.
"What's da ruckus, fella?" asked Paulie., "Youse ain't t'inkin' o' gettin' da Sentry t' help out?!"
Teddy shook his head quickly then revealed his plan.
"We get Big Boo to dress up as the American Sentry. He's the right size and everything. Then we use some tricks to scare Donovan and his creeps," enthused Teddy.
Paulie laughed and lit up his pipe.
"Sounds plain crazy t' me," he said. Then said to count him in.
And somewhere overhead, from a tenement block apartment window came the strains of Stormy Weather...
TO BE CONTINUED
Monday 16 August 2010
AMERICA DREAMING EPISODE 6
FLASHBACK: 1932...
As Teddy and Paulie neared the corner store, passsing the oh-so-tempting wares on the apple cart and the small dog yapping as water cascaded over it from a busted fire hydrant, they spotted the store owner, Mr Riley, putting out a new batch of pulp mags on the weather-beaten spinner rack.
"C'n ya see if he's got da noo 'Mazin' Stories?" asked Paulie, re-lighting his pipe.
"Not sure. But I can see a new issue of The Glass Spider!" replied Teddy.
Paulie shrugged at this and said: "Naah, that mag's a pile o' garbage."
Teddy disagreed , he had always enjoyed reading The Glass Spider.
"Hey, Paulie, wouldn't it be neat if they published an American Sentry mag?!" enthused Teddy.
The boys grabbed a handful of the store's new pulp mags and headed into the shop. It was always dark in Mr Riley's store. Shafts of dusty sunlight filtered across the interior.
Mr Riley busied himself with an ice box and nearby sat rown upon row of jars of brightly coloured candy.
Teddy had always loved the store and he had first met Paulie there when they'd been about ten.
Mr Riley looked up from the ice box and grinned. His usual smile was tainted by an ugly bruise on his cheek, a dark purple with black streaks.
"Cheez, Mr Riley, wha' happened?" piped Paulie.
"N-nothing, lads." came the shopkeeper's guarded reply.
Both boys' heads turned as in came Hannah, Mr Riley's daughter. Hannah was a couple of years older than Teddy and Paulie, and was the subject of their teenage daydreams.
"Dad had a run-in with," began the girl before she was cut off by Mr Riley.
"If you won't tell them, I will!" said the girl angrily.
Hannah put down the pile of fabric she was carrying and said: "It was Donovan and his goons. They want dad to pay protection money."
Paulie looked angry and Teddy was staggered. He's heard of Dagger Donovan but never thought that the small-time hood would try anything in his neighbourhood.
"Mr Riley, is Donovan coming back?" asked Teddy.
The shopkeeper didn't reply but Hannah did, saying that the thug would be back on Friday.
Teddy looked determinedly at Paule and whispered: "We've got to do something."
TO BE CONTINUED....
As Teddy and Paulie neared the corner store, passsing the oh-so-tempting wares on the apple cart and the small dog yapping as water cascaded over it from a busted fire hydrant, they spotted the store owner, Mr Riley, putting out a new batch of pulp mags on the weather-beaten spinner rack.
"C'n ya see if he's got da noo 'Mazin' Stories?" asked Paulie, re-lighting his pipe.
"Not sure. But I can see a new issue of The Glass Spider!" replied Teddy.
Paulie shrugged at this and said: "Naah, that mag's a pile o' garbage."
Teddy disagreed , he had always enjoyed reading The Glass Spider.
"Hey, Paulie, wouldn't it be neat if they published an American Sentry mag?!" enthused Teddy.
The boys grabbed a handful of the store's new pulp mags and headed into the shop. It was always dark in Mr Riley's store. Shafts of dusty sunlight filtered across the interior.
Mr Riley busied himself with an ice box and nearby sat rown upon row of jars of brightly coloured candy.
Teddy had always loved the store and he had first met Paulie there when they'd been about ten.
Mr Riley looked up from the ice box and grinned. His usual smile was tainted by an ugly bruise on his cheek, a dark purple with black streaks.
"Cheez, Mr Riley, wha' happened?" piped Paulie.
"N-nothing, lads." came the shopkeeper's guarded reply.
Both boys' heads turned as in came Hannah, Mr Riley's daughter. Hannah was a couple of years older than Teddy and Paulie, and was the subject of their teenage daydreams.
"Dad had a run-in with," began the girl before she was cut off by Mr Riley.
"If you won't tell them, I will!" said the girl angrily.
Hannah put down the pile of fabric she was carrying and said: "It was Donovan and his goons. They want dad to pay protection money."
Paulie looked angry and Teddy was staggered. He's heard of Dagger Donovan but never thought that the small-time hood would try anything in his neighbourhood.
"Mr Riley, is Donovan coming back?" asked Teddy.
The shopkeeper didn't reply but Hannah did, saying that the thug would be back on Friday.
Teddy looked determinedly at Paule and whispered: "We've got to do something."
TO BE CONTINUED....
Saturday 14 August 2010
AMERICA DREAMING EPISODE 1
Imperator was nervous. He'd shuffled about in front of the mirror in the dressing room for what felt like ages. His costume seemed to be ill-fitting and chaffed around the collar. That never happened normally. Then again, normal for Imperator was fighting villains like Doctor Demento, the Doppler or thwarting bank robbers!
This wasn't normal, being a dressing room in the Silver Spur Casino in Las Vegas. As Imperator fiddled with his brylcreemed hair for the umpteenth time that hour, a door opened and in stepped John F Kennedy.
The Democratic presidential candidate looked nervous too but had it under better control than Imperator, who would've rather faced an alien invasion than being about to take to the stage on JFK's campaign trail.
"You feeling okay, son?" asked Kennedy.
"Bit edgy, truth be told, sir." replied Imperator.
Kennedy smoothed down the front of his dark blue suit and smiled, saying: "Heh. This is just like falling off a log. You ever fallen off a log?"
The costumed crimefighter grinned and said no.
"Me neither," replied Kennedy.
Imperator didn't feel any better. He coughed to clear his throat and said: "Sir, did you see Regal on Johnny Carson last night?"
The Democrat nodded.
Imperator, as he adjusted his cloak, said: "It figures Regal would be backing Nixon but I'm a little surprised about The Million Dollar Kid."
Kennedy cocked his head to one side before replying: "Yeah, the Kid's a bit like Bob Hope. He's changable. Did I ever tell you that I met his grandfather?"
Imperator looked surprised and said no.
Kennedy smiled and picked up the story: "I must've been five or six. It was a county fair and there was a old geezer doing fancy Wild West trick-shooting and signing books.
I ran over to see what was going on and there was Buck Dollar, holsternig one of his pistols. What were they made of? Obsidian! Yeah, he was there, big as life, holstering one of his famous obsidian pistols."
Imperator laughed and told Kennedy how he used to read Buck Dollar comic-books as a kid. And then Kennedy admitted to reading those selfsame comics, watching the Buck Dollar chapterplay serials from Republic and clipping out the Buck Dollar newspaper strip. Both men laughed.
"Jeez, he must've been nearly a hundred when I saw him but he still had that undeniable Southern charm and an eye for the ladies, " said Kennedy, with a knowing twinkle in his eyes.
TO BE CONTINUED...
This wasn't normal, being a dressing room in the Silver Spur Casino in Las Vegas. As Imperator fiddled with his brylcreemed hair for the umpteenth time that hour, a door opened and in stepped John F Kennedy.
The Democratic presidential candidate looked nervous too but had it under better control than Imperator, who would've rather faced an alien invasion than being about to take to the stage on JFK's campaign trail.
"You feeling okay, son?" asked Kennedy.
"Bit edgy, truth be told, sir." replied Imperator.
Kennedy smoothed down the front of his dark blue suit and smiled, saying: "Heh. This is just like falling off a log. You ever fallen off a log?"
The costumed crimefighter grinned and said no.
"Me neither," replied Kennedy.
Imperator didn't feel any better. He coughed to clear his throat and said: "Sir, did you see Regal on Johnny Carson last night?"
The Democrat nodded.
Imperator, as he adjusted his cloak, said: "It figures Regal would be backing Nixon but I'm a little surprised about The Million Dollar Kid."
Kennedy cocked his head to one side before replying: "Yeah, the Kid's a bit like Bob Hope. He's changable. Did I ever tell you that I met his grandfather?"
Imperator looked surprised and said no.
Kennedy smiled and picked up the story: "I must've been five or six. It was a county fair and there was a old geezer doing fancy Wild West trick-shooting and signing books.
I ran over to see what was going on and there was Buck Dollar, holsternig one of his pistols. What were they made of? Obsidian! Yeah, he was there, big as life, holstering one of his famous obsidian pistols."
Imperator laughed and told Kennedy how he used to read Buck Dollar comic-books as a kid. And then Kennedy admitted to reading those selfsame comics, watching the Buck Dollar chapterplay serials from Republic and clipping out the Buck Dollar newspaper strip. Both men laughed.
"Jeez, he must've been nearly a hundred when I saw him but he still had that undeniable Southern charm and an eye for the ladies, " said Kennedy, with a knowing twinkle in his eyes.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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