By CHARLES ANDREWS
WELCOME!
If you’ve never come across NOTEWORTHY in the eight years it ran weekly in the Santa Monica Daily Press. They dropped me, but the Mirror wanted me, and they have an LA-wide reach of hundreds of thousands of digital subscribers. The easiest way to get it, in your email, is to subscribe (free) to my Substack publishing account, MUSIC, POLITICS, LIFE.
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This is the place to find out if there is a performance this week you would not want to miss. LA is the greatest live music city in the world, for variety and quality, so don’t miss out. These are not listings; they are my personal recommendations. I would be at every one of these if I could.
R.I.P. MARK VOLMAN
No jokes now, about turtles rolled over on their backs. He died last week in Nashville, aged 78, of a blood disease. He had a unique career in music and other endeavors. He talked his way into the surf band of Westchester HS classmate Howard Kaylan (the other founder of The Turtles), even though when Kaylan asked him what he could do, he said, “nuthin’”. Turns out he could spin a mean tambourine, and often dropped it, and became a crowd favorite. Both were outstanding tenors, though Kaylan always took the leads. When they dropped surf music and changed into The Turtles, their first release, a cover of Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” hit the Top 10. “Happy Together” was their only #1 and their legacy. It knocked The Beatles off the top spot (“Penny Lane”). Two of their HS classmates were Phil Hartman of SNL, and “Squeaky” Fromme of the Manson family.
When The Turtles broke up, the two kept surprising everyone. They recorded satirical songs as Flo & Eddie, joined Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, sang harmonies on Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart,” T Rex’s “Bang a Gong,” and on several Alice Cooper, Psychedelic Furs, and Ramones albums. They went to Jamaica and hired the best musicians and, singing in their best SoCal voices, made a really good old-school reggae album, “Rock Steady with Flo & Eddie.” And they gave me the most surreal interview of my career, in their office in Hollywood, in the ‘80s. They immediately rolled a giant spliff and were a hilarious comedy act, finishing each other’s sentences like twins. Their philosophy was if the phone rings and you are offered a job, anything, take it, and figure it out later. Music, story, and voices for Saturday morning cartoons “The Care Bears” and “Strawberry Shortcake.” Volman later earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at LA’s Loyola Marymount and was a professor at Belmont University in Nashville.
When I asked them about their performance at the Nixon White House for First Daughter Tricia, which raised a lot of counterculture eyebrows, they responded, “It was just another gig. We got paid. And we lifted the silverware.”
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Tonight – CELEBRATING ALAN BERGMAN – You may not recognize the name, but there is a reason the roster of artists who are performing at this tribute to the late great songwriter is jaw-dropping. Peter Erskine, Michael Feinstein, Dave Grusin, Roger Kellaway, Jackson Browne, Seth McFarlane, Tierney Sutton, Lee Rittenour, Paul Reiser, and more, with video tributes from Barbra Streisand, Pat Metheny, and others. If you needed any more reason than that to celebrate this legendary lyricist (partnered with wife Marilyn), it’s a benefit for the precious JAZZ BAKERY in Santa Monica (struggling to replace the arts funding snatched away by Kennedy Center chair D.J. Trump), as requested by Alan Bergman before he died in July. This would have been his 100th birthday. He was also a founding board member of the Broad Center, so the venue is ideal. Next Thurs 7:30 p.m., Broad Stage, Santa Monica, $105 – 313.
HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES – You can go to the Cinema Bar any Monday night, 9-11:30, free, for almost 14 years now, and hear these hot players run through Django Reinhardt-style ‘30s jazz. This amazing ensemble is a treasure. Mon 9 p.m., Cinema Bar, Culver City, free.
RECOMMENDED:
THEATRICUM BOTANICUM: – Outdoors in the Topanga Canyon woods, now in their 50th year, it is one of the very best theatre companies in LA, with a mastery of The Bard and moving, thought-provoking topical productions. You had all summer, but it’s not too late. “The Seagull: Malibu” is the only, only misstep I have seen this company take in 20 years of performances I’ve seen. It was uncharacteristically lacking in every aspect. Insiders told me it had to do with two principles being sidelined, but I really don’t think that could have fixed it. Fri 7:30 p.m. I haven’t seen “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING” but Shakespeare is their forte and I can wholeheartedly recommend this, Sat 3:30 p.m., as well as “A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM,” being performed there for the 50th time, Mon 7:30 p.m. But I think their killer production this season is “STRIFE,” which sounds like today’s horrible headlines (“what compromise is possible when human dignity and health are on the line?”), gripping, with a great ending, SUN 3:30 P.M.. Ditto “WINE IN THE WILDERNESS,” which takes a few thought-provoking turns, Sun 7:30 p.m.Will Geer’s TB, Topanga Canyon, $15-60.
“HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU” – Panel game show format takes on politics and current events, but the object is not to have correct answers, but hilarious ones. The chaos is overseen by one of my favorites, Roy Wood Jr., but his two team captains, Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black, dish up the biggest laughs, most of them spontaneously. Every Sat, 9 p.m., CNN.
TOLEDO DIAMOND – His decades-long Sunday night residency at Santa Monica’s Harvelle’s, the oldest blues bar in LA (almost a century!), is a treasure that you shouldn’t assume will always be there. Toledo choreographs (literally) a truly unique show, a blend of ‘50s hipster jazz and his dancing dames and a most modern smokin’ hot band that gets better all the time. Every Sunday, 9:30 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $12.
NEIL YOUNG – is a phenomenon, at 84, still touring, playing and singing like a man possessed, social activist to his bones. (This is his “Love Earth Tour.”) The worst singer, fiercest guitar slasher, and probably best composer of C, S, N, & Y, when will he slow down? When things are right, he would probably answer. You never know what you will get at a Neil Young concert, but you’d better be there because it could be incredible. Mon 7:30 p.m., Hollywood Bowl, $65-169.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (also recommended): THEATRICUM BOTANICUM: “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING” 9/13, “STRIFE” 9/14, 20, 28, 10/4, “WINE IN THE WILDERNESS” 9/14, 20, 27, 29, 10/5, 12, “A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM” 9/15; TOLEDO DIAMOND, Harvelle’s Santa Monica, 9/14, 21, 28, 10/5, 12, 19. 26; NEIL YOUNG, Hwd Bowl, 9/15; HOT CLUB OF LOS ANGELES, Cinema Bar, 9/15, 22, 29, 10/6, 13, 20; NINE INCH NAILS, Kia Forum, 9/18, 19; ‘WEST SIDE STORY,” LA OPERA, Dorothy Chandlert Pavilion, 9/20, 21, 25, 27 (free simulcast on the Pier), 28, 10/4; LA PHIL, DUDAMEL LAUNCHES FINAL SEASON, Disney Hall, 9/25, 26.
DOWN THE ROAD (also recommended): KAMASI WASHINGTON, Blue Note, 9/30-10/5; DWIGHT YOAKAM, Greek, 10/1; DUDAMEL, LA PHIL, STRAVINSKY, Disney Hall, 10/2, 4, 5; DENGUE FEVER, Alex’s Bar, 10/9; DUDAMEL LA PHIL, MAHLER #2 “RESURRECTION,” Disney Hall, 10/9, 10, 11, 12; PETER ERSKINE TRIO, Sam First, 10/11; LIBRARY GIRL, Ruskin Theatre, 10/12, 11/9, 12/14; LA PHIL GALA, DUDAMEL’S FIESTA, BEETHOVEN, DVOŘÁK, REVUELTAS, more, Disney Hall, 10/14; BOZ SCAGGS, Disney Hall, 10/25; MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, Saban Theatre, 10/25; ITZHAK PERLMAN, Disney Hall, 10/28; Halloween “HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME,” film + organ music, Disney Hall, 10/31; PATTI SMITH, “HORSES,” Disney Hall, 11/15; LA PHIL, MOZART, SIBELIUS, Disney Hall, 12/12, 13, 14. Charles Andrews has listened to a lot of music of all kinds, including more than 3,500 live shows. He has lived in Santa Monica for 39 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or hate mail to: therealmrmusic@gmail.com
