If Not For You

Sometimes I forget how wonderful George Harrison is.

Just hearing his voice is so soothing.

This is from his 1988 interview with Joe Smith that was recently released to the Library of Congress:

"All Things Must Pass was like going to the bathroom... let it out."

"[Bob Dylan] makes William Shakespeare look like Billy Joel."

and I felt like a pickled priest that was being flambéed

"Bring me Harold Pinter and I will argue that what I do is far, far, far more artistic than what he does"

- Pete Townshend

I've read quite a bit of Pinter, and I have to agree.

Also, I can't get over this picture:

According to Who I Am, the dog's name is Towser. 

Pete Townshend

This guy:

"I don't give a shit about making money. I think rock music is junk. I am a genius. The Who were OK but without me they would have all ended up working in the flower market, or worse - in Led Zeppelin."

"Mick [Jagger] is the only man I've ever seriously wanted to fuck."

So excited for Pete Townshend's memoir Who I Am.

and I know when she thinks of me, she thinks of me as him

I've never been a rabid Who fan, but news of Pete Townshend's upcoming autobiography inspired me to give them another shot. After watching both Quadrophenia and Tommy recently, I'm kind of amazed.

Pete's lyrics are cutting. And he's weirdly sexy. Kind of an intellectual rock star wreck. I like a lot of his solo stuff too.

Roger Daltrey is also impressive as that messianic bare-chested Tommy. What wonderful hair...

blind love for my father was the first thing I sacrificed to Mick Jagger

I've been really into Patti Smith lately. She's a strange, wild, enthusiastic writer. Also, she looks like Keith Richards.

Below is an excerpt from her 1973 Creem article about the Stones called "Jag-arr of the Jungle." It's a good example of her style and captures the particular masculine sexuality of rock 'n roll and the effect it can have on women.

"In full make-up and frills they still get it across. they know just how to ram a woman. they made me real proud to be female. the other half of male. they aroused in me both a feline sense of power and a longing to be held under the thumb."

Mick Jagger, 69

Mick Jagger speaking in an interview from the 80s. In honor of his birthday (yesterday):

"It's ridiculous. No-one should care if the Rolling Stones have broken up, should they? I mean, when the Beatles broke up I couldn't give a shit. Thought it was a very good idea. And I don't believe the fact that the Smiths' guitarist has left is of any import to anyone whatsoever. I don't think anyone should give a shit. But with me people seem to demand that I keep their youthful memories intact in a glass case specifically preserved for them and damn the sacrifices I have to make. Oh, the Stones, it's part of my youth, man, they say, because they saw you in Hyde Park 18 years ago and they have their fucking conservative little mental picture of you and they don't want you to change – not that they've bought a record of yours in 15 years. Why should I live in the past just for their petty ... satisfaction."

Growing Up

I'm a bit afraid of getting older and losing my rabid interest in art, music, and literature. I don't want to abandon my whimsical fantasies for cold, boring practicality. But it happens to so many people when they grow up, have a family, take on responsibilities, and enter the "real world." I'll just try to soak up as much creativity as I can in my early twenties, so if it dies when I start my career, I'll still have collected some beauty to hold with me in my later years. Or maybe I can do something creative work-wise, and maintain my mind a while longer.

Just a few quotations to remind me that imagination can live on:

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities."
-- Dr. Seuss

Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.
-- W. Somerset Maugham