(Author just out of shot) |
Showbiz lenser Norman Seeff was one of my "groupies" (as I affectionately called them!) back in the 'seventies. He invited me to shoots because he valued my advice - although I never got my hands dirty handling a camera (I'm not a mechanic), my genius with composition and lighting gave his work its signature look. That blurred, slightly out-of-focus thing? Nose oil on the lens. Had to be my nose oil - a particularly refined and unctuously pure nectar I bottled for him. So he was particularly keen for me to attend Carly Simon's shoot for her upcoming Playing Possum album. "Privately, Farq," he whispered over a bowl of borscht at Tinseltown's famed Brown Derby Five Star Restaurant, "she has a girl boner for you I could hang a swing from." I chuckled, waving back at Jack Nicholson. "She'll have to take a ticket, Normie. Right now I'm squiring toothsome Debbie Harry, which she is taking my advice to form a New Wave band." But the Seeffster was insistent, saying my presence at the shoot would "make things happen". I relented, because his need was transparent, and touching. I had the gift - or skill - to put his subjects at ease, distracting them from the little man fussing with the camera.
But the effect I had on Carly was nothing short of explosive. She rushed across the studio, arms outstretched to embrace me. "Farq! Oh, Farq!" she moaned, pressing her lithe, taut body to mine. I felt her nipple harden through my shirt pocket protector. "I've waited all my life for this moment!" I firmly reminded her we were professionals, snapping my fingers at Normie, fumbling a cassette into his Instamatic, and it was only my direct order that prevented her from stripping naked, so lost was she in my pheromonal tsunami. "I'll keep my boots on," she pouted. "Later, baby," I growled.
Modesty requires me to draw a discreet veil over what occurred later in her private suite at H'wood's exclusive The Chateau Marmont Five Star Hotel & Restaurant. But I can tell you that Carly opened Love's Secret Portals (3) for the proud entrance of my throbbing manhood! That she surged on wave upon wave of ecstasy all through that long, hot night, our juices mixing in a divine Cocktail of Love! And when at last she passed out (again) as dawn broke, I quietly wiped my dick on the drapes and tiptoed away. And I can tell you that "Jimmy" Taylor phoned me later that week - ever the gentleman! - to thank me for fulfilling his wife's womanly potential. "She's taught me some of your moves, Farq, and you know? When she cries out your name, my friend, I'm flattered." It's a story that does us all credit, I think, and perhaps sharing it here will add to your listening pleasure of this swell album, a personal favorite!
And remember, pals - when you're looking at the cover photograph you are literally looking at Carly through my Nose Nectar. Fun fact!
In the unlikely event of you ever sharing a nite of taboo lust with a major recording star, brag about it here. Failing that, tell us your favorite dame vocalist. Me, it's a toss-up between Carly's coffee-n'-cream contralto (isn't that a beautiful word?) and Billie Holliday's naked fragility. You probably prefer Diamanda Galas, and good luck to you.
ReplyDeleteI always felt I should have married Mavis Staples. What a life of bliss I would have had with Mavis singing to me in bed every night and serving me up a big plate of grits & collard greens & ribs for my dinner. Then in the evening after dinner Pops, Purvis & I could have sat out the back porch playing guitars & drinking beers. Yep, Mavis Staples & Big Bob Mac, would have been a match made in heaven.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you here, Mr. Mac - hope things are kopacetic in Korat!
DeleteThere's no way I can choose just one, so here's a few in no particular order:
ReplyDeleteKate Bush (the early stuff)
Kirsty McColl
Annette Peacock
Billie Holliday
Rebecka Tornqvist
Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard, I think, "Oh bondage up yours."
ReplyDeletePoly Styrene will do for me
Why did the submissive cross the road?
DeleteBecause his dominatrix told him to.
a nite with Big Maybelle would be the stuff of dreams.
ReplyDeleteJANIS
ReplyDeleteJust the one nipple hardened? Curious effect you had on Ms. Simon. Perhaps it was the pocket protector.
ReplyDeleteI have to say (I don't have to, but I will) that the cover of Annette Peacock's album Been In The Streets Too Long is very sexy.
A list of my favorite female vocalists would have to include Pearl Harbour, Etta James, Hollie Cook, Shirley Horn, and Cassandra Wilson.
Billie Holiday is my favorite
ReplyDeleteHonorable mentions:
Sarah Vaughan
Joni Mitchell
Carmen McRae
Amy Winehouse
Bebel Gilberto
Candi Staton
Aretha Franklin
Ah finally. Someone says Candi Staton which I would have nominated...
DeleteLinda R!
ReplyDeletesings Gene C
DeleteWhen I was 17, I went to an Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias gig. I was rather bored with the support, and noticed a nice looking girl in leather trousers who I decided to chat-up (it was the 70s, and we did things like that then). It was going well, so i decided to seal the deal and snogged her. Snogged her several times, actually. At the end of the set, the girl said that we'd have to stop, as her boyfriend was coming off stage, and the last time she'd snogged someone else, he'd beaten the other man up. The lead singer of the support band ("The Street Band") was Paul Young. I like to think that it was my actions that led him to decide to cover "Any where I lay my hat is my home".
ReplyDeleteAhhh, The Albertos, that takes me back, to simpler more gentle times, before life got so brutal..
DeleteI don't give a damn I don't fucking care
I'm gonna kill me mum and then pull out me hair
I'm fed up with the dole and the human race
Gonna cut me liver out and shove it in your face
Kill! Kill!
I don't like animals or lifting heavy weights
Gonna shoot me fingers off and carve up all me mates
Gonna steal a motor car and smash it all to pieces
Gonna cut me liver out and pin it on your braces.
Kill! Kill!
Good job he wasn't in that lot.
Joni Mitchell, but for her superb guitar playing, as well as voice.
ReplyDeleteHow about Lucinda Williams in her prime (man, the years and the hard living have not been kind to her voice)
ReplyDeleteGood call.
DeleteHer lockdown recordings last year were pretty good. Here's the Stones covers album she did.
https://workupload.com/file/xCuMQQYqchL
Thank you for sharing that one, Steve. I've heard her tribute to Tom Petty and the country & soul covers, but missed her take on the Stones.
DeleteShe also did a Dylan covers album and a Christmas album - all in 2020. She contracted Covid earlier this year, so here's hoping she's made a full recovery.
DeleteOh, and how could I forget.
ReplyDeleteEmmylou. Nuff said.
It would have to be Chrissie Hynde. Or alternatively, and in a different vein, Nanci Griffith.
ReplyDeleteChrissie singing
Well, I'll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
They'll fall to ruin one day
For making us part
Just hits me every time.
And I can't hear Nanci sing Love at the Five and Dime without going to pieces a little bit.
For me, it was Ann Coulter, over a table at the Farmer's Market on Fairfax in LA, in broad daylight.
ReplyDeletehttps://fivegunswest.blogspot.com/2008/02/reprint-of-postann-coulter.html
Also look for my Back In Ann Coulter's Ass Saddle Again! Toodles.
Ok. I lied. We walked back to my apartment first. To make up for that little fig, here's this:
Deletehttp://backinanncoultersasssaddleagain.blogspot.com/
The other night I was sitting home watching a Tivo of Stump the Schwab on ESPN and just about nodding off when suddenly someone began pounding on my front door like I owed them money. It would be hard to overstate my surprise when I opened the door and Ann Coulter pushed past me, smelling of alcohol and Nicorette gum. She had already taken off her sweater and shoes before I remembered to close the door.
‘Nice to be back here at the Fortress of Decrepitude. Bet not many ladies come here twice.' She shook her head. 'Have I missed you,’ she sighed, glancing toward me.
‘I’m..flattered..’
‘I’m not talking to you,’ she spat, ‘I’m talking to your cock. Bet you never thought you’d see me again.’
And they say romance is dead ...
DeleteIs it just me, or does Coulter look like everyone's idea of a porn star?
DeleteSame question again, but substituting KellyAnne Conway.
They look like trailer park skank to me, same as Boebert and M.T.G. Hard as rusty nails, resentful, bullying, and ignorantly vain.
DeleteIt seems some members' members have really been around the block or two. I've scarcely rubbed elbows, let alone genitals, with such celebrity as the other 4/5 guys.
DeleteJennifer Rush.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to announce that the strike is over and I'm free to comment again now that our lawyers have reached agreeable terms (you keep providing "the goods" while the MrDave Commenters Union Local 666 agrees to "act in accordance with the False Memory Isle O'Foam© ("IoF") Code of Conduct including but not limited to: completing required IoF remedial training, cooperating with ongoing IoF investigations, acting in the best interests of the IoF and its visitors at all times, and promoting a positive environment in which everyone feels included and empowered") Victory is ours, comrades!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite female vocalist is Wayne Newton.
MrDave is currently a lab monkey in a Wuhan clinic. "It's swell!" he avers. "Three meals a day and someone cleans my shit up! This is better than Hackensack!"
DeleteMy lawyer has advised me against replying to this comment.
DeleteThis surprisingly explicit (by this blog's standards) tale has made me go all funny.
ReplyDeleteAnd its basic scenario was cast in song by those lovely Wilson girls for Heart's 'All I Want To Do'. I could have done with Nancy stopping for me in July as I waited by my broken-down Skoda in rush-hour traffic. I'd have much rather have had her do what the garage did to me with the repair bill.
You may have missed the much-loved "Something For Sunday" series, which were pretty disgusting.
DeleteTeetering toward titillation and tawdriness, the image of you wiping your dick on the drapes is one I won't quickly forget. My vote is for a triumvirate: Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan.
ReplyDelete"Quietly" wiping my dick on the drapes ... therein lies the joke, I think. How could it be done noisily? (Asking for a friend).
DeleteAnnie Haslam about 40 years ago.
ReplyDeleteTime has no real function here on th' IoF@. Forty years ago is right now.
Delete40 years ago was our future!
DeleteWe had autogyros!
DeleteAzam Ali
ReplyDeleteBillie Holiday
Billie Holiday (FoamFeatured© antecedently) seems to win this definitive pan-continental poll of pulchritude.
ReplyDeleteAnd Here's Playing Possum, which in all probability you've dismissed because you don't take her seriously as an artist, or you think it's just the cover that makes it noteworthy.
Interesting stuff on the cover here: http://carlysimonalbumcovers.blogspot.com/2011/05/playing-possum-1975.html
Delete(He gets the importance of the eyes, later cropped for the CD release.)
Favourite wimmin' singers? There are many - here's five of 'em, each with an example of their wonderfulness:
ReplyDelete1. Bonnie Raitt https://youtu.be/DKVJP4OvXyg
2. Madeleine Peyroux https://youtu.be/Om3g8PbVPy8
3. Maria Muldaur https://youtu.be/_QccQbxDGkU
4. Noura Mint Seymali https://youtu.be/dgycpexDd1Q
5. Sandy Denny https://youtu.be/Cq2GTIqVekc
If you don't like them, I have more.
Cheers, Peanuts Molloy
Has anyone mentioned Rickie Lee Jones yet? Mentioning.
ReplyDeleteOr Laura Nyro
DeleteToo many to mention...
ReplyDeleteErin Moran aka A Girl Called Eddy
Aimee Mann
Astrud Gilberto
Eva Cassidy
Tori Amos
Françoise Hardy
Jennifer Warnes
I'd like to change my answer from Wayne Newton to Karen Dalton who every 4 or 5 guy should be acquainted with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMyWTBMrbP0
ReplyDeletep.s. For those who somehow missed the flurry of Karen Dalton posthumous adulation and idolatry, here's the 5 releases they've dug up from her grave in your choice of formats. There's also a recent tribute album you should be able to find without too much effort (or borrow from me with some begging).
DeleteFLAC:
https://workupload.com/file/taMb2ph7g4B
320k MP3:
https://workupload.com/file/MzeBhHHz496
There's some Billie Holiday hiding in that voice.
DeleteGee whiz, MrDave! Yer largesse is th' largest!
DeleteYes -- in the best possible way! (takes my breath away and makes my jaw ache)
DeletePoint of order: Though it would appear otherwise given the timeline, I was agreeing with Clarence's comment, not celebrating the largeness of my largesse and my deepthroating thereof. But think what you will dear reader -- I am legally bound by my new IoF labor contract to respect all viewpoints. But I would advise others against obtaining legal council at the local S&M establishment.
DeleteSyd Straw.
ReplyDeleteElla
Ella ain't showed too strongly here.
Deletealas--a great set of pipes, IMAO
DeleteNobody's going to disagree with that. But I find her a little buttermilk, where Billie is brandy. (IMAO?)
Deletetotally agree, though her version of "Stompin' at the Savoy" with Louie gives you a sense of what she coulda/woulda/shoulda....Can't argue with Lady Day.
DeleteEmmylou, though Linda certainly had her day. Maddy and Annie have lovely instruments. Emmylou's ability to duet is unparalleled, and when she's got the right band and song, can deliver excellent solo work.
ReplyDelete