Syria: Well. It has certainly been a busy week. Starting with the country of Syria, which, in its Ba'athist configuration - no longer exists. Former President Bashar al-Assad has, as they say, left the building.
As a temporary (perhaps) but clearly necessary action, צה״ל (Israel Defense Forces) have captured the back side (the front side being in Israel's hands since 1974) of Mount Hermon, facing toward Damascus. Just in case the new rebel "government" of Syria gets any ideas.
But wait! There's more! צה״ל has also employed this miraculous serendipity to destroy Syria's military - missile depots, naval vessels, fighter jets, and more - just to make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.
And what about the Syrian Jewish community? Despite what you may have heard from various MSM (MainStream Media, not methylsulfonylmethane or My Singing Monsters) outlets, the community thrives in Brooklyn, Deal (NJ), Israel, and elsewhere - but not in Syria itself. Depending on the source, there are only three or four Jews left in Syria.
Alright ... Abq Jew was conducting what we used to, in those halcyon Intel DVI days, call "video research" - on YouTube, when he found this gem. Lindsay wrote this song (back in 1977) because of Stevie, and here (in 2005) is singing from his heart - to her.
The words, Abq Jew and other reviewers have noted, are not important. This sweet, naive song simply reflects a desire not to repeat previous mistakes. But they do highlight Abq Jew's theme -
On "Never Going Back Again", Buckingham accompanies himself on acoustic guitar using a Travis picking technique.
To capture the optimal sound, producer Ken Caillat suggested that Buckingham's acoustic guitar be restrung every 20 minutes. Caillat pitied the guitar tech's job of restringing the acoustic guitar three times an hour for "the entire day", but approved of Buckingham's "magnificent" instrumental passages.
"Never Going Back Again" is set in a 4-4 signature at a moderate tempo of 88 beats per minute, in the key of F sharp major. Buckingham's guitar is in Drop D tuning with a capo on the fourth fret.
Abq Jew notes with awe the fact that Lindsay Buckingham could play guitar like that in 1977 (or earlier), when he was 27 years old (or younger). And that he could still play guitar like that or even better when he got older.
There is (always) hope. Some things do get better with time.
Jacob's Ladder! In joyful accordance with the long-standing Jewish tradition, Abq Jew is keeping Jerusalem above everything -
as he announces that Jacob's Ladder, one of Abq Jew'sfavorite Jewgrass bands (there aren't that many out there) has come up with yet one more outstanding recording and video.
"Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan!" is a delightful old-time (yes, Christian) gospel number that has been performed, re-invented, and performed again many times over the last ... oh, hundred years.
For example: there's this version and that version, plus - if you're really interested, as Abq Jew is sure you are or soon will be - an almost infinite selection of versions located right here.
So why, Abq Jew hears you ask, is Jerusalem moaning? There are, of course, any number of Jewish historical events that might lead us to a few theological (which is not to mention theodical) complaints. But Christians? Why would they think Jerusalem is unhappy?
Well, there's One Big Reason - but, regarding this song, that's not it. In its original version, "Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan!" is actually complaining about having to sit through long sermons at church.
Which church? Any of them!
Oh, the Methodist minister got squeaky shoes He pulls down the shades and brings out the booze
Oh, the Baptist preacher has a really hard sell You buy his package or you roast in hell
Oh, the Campbellite preacher will show you the way But you gotta be baptized every other day
Oh, the Catholic preacher keeps you out of trouble He'll save your soul, but your family will double
Oh, the Unitarian preacher has a lot to learn They say he prays "To whom it may concern"
Oh, the Lutheran preacher has a really nice home And he's careful to stay just one step from Rome
Oh, the Episcopal preacher prays on bended knees He gets his prayers answered 'cause he always says "Please"
Oh, the Presbyterian preacher is one of the "Elected" Everybody else just hopes they'll be selected
And synagogues are (unsurprisingly) not exempt -
Oh, the Rabbi preacher gives good advice He'll get you into heaven for a wholesale price
And then there's Jacob's Ladder's unique version. The band explains:
This gospel number struck us as a must-sing crossover song between the Christian gospel tradition and the Jewish traditions. Jerusalem is all over Jewish liturgy, and is very much apart of the Jewish identity and soul, as best exemplified in Psalms 137 (" If I forget you Jerusalem, let my right forget how to work").
There is so much these days that pulls us apart: to wake up in our world today in 2024, there is more of a natural tendency to "other" just about everything and everyone. We hope that this song does just the opposite.
There's a wailing, "high lonesome" sound to traditional American folk and gospel songs, harkening back to the days of strife and toil as a working class person in the coal mines in late 19th century early 20th century America.
Musical expression of Jewish suffering has varied greatly over centuries, though we find a deep connection with this expression of sorrow and hopelessness in light of the past year. We hope this song brings a little light to our dark times.
And Her Restaurant: It was about nine years ago (OK ... it was exactly June 30, 2015) that Abq Jew posted a blog (see Arlo And Alice Meet Jane) to tell us all about Jane Ellen's The World of Arlo Guthrie OASIS class - as we sorta approached the 50th Anniversary of the Alice's Restaurant Masacree.
Wow! That was 9+ years ago! During those nine years (plus almost five months), just a few things have changed. As you may recall.
OASIS Albuquerque Director Kathleen Raskob retired.
OASIS Albuquerque Teacher Extraordinaire Jane Ellen retired. And moved to Florida!
Famed folksinger Arlo Davy Guthrie turned 77.
Famed personality Alice Brock died last week (on November 21), at the age of 83. Just before Thanksgiving.
Yes, Alice Brock was the woman and restaurant owner behind Arlo's now-classic anti-war and anti-litter song, Alice's Restaurant. Berkshire Magazine wrote on Instagram:
We are deeply saddened to hear that Alice Brock, who was an inspiration for the song “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie and a legend in the Berkshires, died on Thursday. She was 83 years old, leaving us just one week before Thanksgiving.
Two years ago, editor-in-chief Anastasia Stanmeyer traveled to Provincetown where Alice lived, to sit and talk with her about her time in the Berkshires and in the Cape. We have included a link to the exclusive story, “Breaking Bread with Alice.”
Alice is pictured here at her kitchen table. “This is the only thing I brought with me from the Berkshires,” she told Anastasia. “It has two leafs. We used to all sit around this table in the church whenever we got together. This is where Arlo wrote ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,’ or at least some of it. We were all making up choruses, but he had his own ideas.”
Among other stories, Alice recounted how she loaded up her Cadillac with her belongings and made her way to Provincetown in 1978. There’s a photo here from one of her cookbooks, as well as a photo of Alice sitting on a car taken by Jane McWhorter before Alice headed east.
We can picture Alice in that Cadillac once again, on the highway to her next destination.
Here is a portion of what Abq Jew wrote way back in 2015:
Jane Ellen @ OASIS Albuquerque
The 4th of July is a long way from Thanksgiving (145 days this year, to be exact). So Abq Jew is pretty sure he will be the first to remind the world of the
Abq Jew here writes not of the song, but of the event (or series of events) that inspired it.
This song is called "Alice's Restaurant." It's about Alice, and the restaurant, but "Alice's Restaurant" is not the name of the restaurant, that's just the name of the song. That's why I call the song "Alice's Restaurant."
Now, the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacree (as the song is properly known) began back on Thanksgiving Day in 1965.
For those keeping score: Thanksgiving 1965 fell on Thursday (you knew that, right?) November 25, which was (unlike this year) but 144 days after the 4th of July 1965.
The Alice in the song (Wikipedia tells us) was restaurant-owner Alice Brock, who in 1964 used $2,000 supplied by her mother to purchase a deconsecrated church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts,
Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago ... two years ago, on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant.
But Alice doesn't live in the restaurant; she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell tower with her husband Ray and Facha, the dog.
And livin' in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of room downstairs where the pews used to be. And havin' all that room (seein' as how they took out all the pews), they decided that they didn't have to take out their garbage for a long time.
Now what, Abq Jew hears you ask, does this have to do with the price of pastrami in Poughkeepsie?
And the answer is ... nothing much. Except that Arlo is, in fact, a dyed in the wool MOT, although the color has faded somewhat over the years. As Wikipedia tells us:
Arlo Guthrie was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of folk singer and composer Woody Guthrie and his wife Marjorie Mazia Guthrie. His sister is record producer Nora Guthrie.
His mother was a one-time professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company and founder of the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease, the disease that took Woody's life in 1967.
His father was from a Protestant family and his mother was Jewish. His maternal grandmother was renowned Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt.
As it turns out - it's a little-known factoid that Arlo Guthrie's Bar Mitzvah tutor was ultra-nationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane, who formed the Jewish Defense League and (later) founded the Israeli political party Kach.
"Rabbi Kahane was a really nice, patient teacher," Guthrie later recalled, "but shortly after he started giving me my lessons, he started going haywire. Maybe I was responsible."
And, as it also turns out - Alice, too, was, in fact, a dyed in the wool MOT, although the color faded somewhat over the years. As Wikipedia tells us:
Brock was born Alice May Pelkey in Brooklyn, New York City.
Her mother, Mary Pelkey, was a Jewish native of Brooklyn; her father, an Irish Catholic man, was originally from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The Pelkey family was relatively well-to-do and often spent summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where Mr. Pelkey sold artwork for Peter Hunt.
Neither of her parents were religious, but her family had many connections to Jewish culture and she herself variously identified as a Jew and as half-Jewish,
When Abq Jew ponders the knowledge and values he will pass on to his kids and grandkids - he realizes that they have no idea who Arlo Guthrie is or what Alice's Restaurant meant to a whole generation of anti-war kids way back when.
They have never heard the song. The phrase
"twenty-seven 8 x 10 colored glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explainin' what each one was" means nothing in particular to them.
And - for the historical record - Wikipedia tells us that "Alice's Restaurant" was released in October 1967. However (and this is a big however):
"Alice's Restaurant" was performed on July 17, 1967, at the Newport Folk Festival in a workshop or breakout section on "topical songs", where it was such a hit that he was called upon to perform it for the entire festival audience.
The song's success at Newport and on WBAI led Guthrie to record it in front of a studio audience in New York City and release it as side one of the album Alice's Restaurant in October 1967.
Guthrie noted that the studio recording combined some of the worst elements of both studio and live recording, in that the audience chosen for the record had already heard him perform the song repeatedly, but because of the audience, he had to record the song and album in one take.
