John Hall -- two-term Democratic representative from New York's 19th congressional district and the author of the song in question -- lost his bid to return to the House last night.
The bad news (apart from the obvious) is that he was defeated by a retired opthalmologist. The good news is he can still console himself with all those royalties from the Burger King ads.
I should also add that, while I have never particularly cared for "Still the One," I once did a very pleasant stint in a backup band featuring the drummer on the record, Orleans' Jerry Marotta. A very nice guy, although on the way back from one of our shows he made excessively snarky fun of Robbie Robertson's guitar playing on whatever Band album had just come out, which I found irksome.
12 comments:
The first time I saw Bruce Springsteen in concert, Jan or Feb 1975 DAR Constitution Hall in DC, Orleans was the opening act.
Tough gig opening for Bruce even before Born To Run.
I like Robbertson's guitar playing a lot. It is different from everyone else's.
Trey
Me too.
Marotta thought he sounded like an amateur. And I was sitting in the back seat of the car listening to him make fun of Robbie, and I was thinking "You little punk [in the original sense of the word] -- that's fucking Robbie Robertson!"
The bad news (apart from the obvious) is that he was defeated by a retired opthalmologist. A hilarious way to sum up a tragic night . . .
What a jerk, to speak that way about Robbie Robertson. Assh*le. Martotta probably also thought James Burton was too twangy. Idiot.
AP
Well, in Jerry's defense, he was a) a kid (early 20s at the time) and b) had never worked with anybody but high-priced slick and faceless session pros in his life.
Right around '75 I saw Orleans headline a show in our college gym; they were all right, bland, took no chances.
The opening act were some guys named Hall & Oates.
Steve, that's fair enough a defense of Marotta. I remember as a 15-year-old wondering why all the hubub about Neil Young and that wierd voice of his. We were all young, once.
As to John Hall, sorry to see an earnest guy go down in politics. I guess he just wasn't ugly or Satanic enough, especially for this particular season of Tea Bagginess.
AP
Can't stand "Still the One" but "Dance With Me" powers past my defensive perimeter (set to reject any song from the 1970s with tight, Eagle-like harmonies) and leaves me elated. There must be something wrong with me.
I love "Dance with Me" as well.
I learned how to play bass guitar from the part on that record. Seriously -- if you can play it, you're guaranteed ready to play in a band.
:-)
Orleans was one of the reasons punk was so damn necessary.
IIRC, Orleans was produced by David Anderle, who worked as manager for Brian Wilson during the original "Smile" era. Just a bit of trivia!
After reading Levon Helms' autobiography, I look at anything involving Robbie Robertson with a jaundiced eye. From Marotta's view, Robertson probably seemed like a "feel" guitarist who got way more credit than he deserved.
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