Art, Literature, Music

Conversations with Glenn Gould by Jonathan Cott

Since the inception of Rolling Stone, Jonathan Cott has been a contributing editor, and this book came out of interviews he did for that magazine. Highly respected as an interviewer (Jan Morris called him an “incomparable interviewer”), Jonathan has converted many of his in-depth conversations into books. I have read works where he interviews writers of children’s books as well as musicians like John Lennon and Yoko Ono. As I have gotten increasingly interested in the piano, I decided to read this work in which he conversed with Glenn Gould.  Gould does almost all the talking, but Jonathan offers probing prompts which open Gould to new revelations. 

Hearing Gould explain himself and his views is a wild, astonishing trip.  I have listened to him often on YouTube and see what a quirky and brilliant musician he was, but nothing prepares you for his level…

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Musical, an adaptation of Coleridge’s poem by Margaret Gonzalez

I am including my own recent adaptation of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. If you have a group that wants to put on a play for Earth Day next year, I am offering this musical version for your consideration.  I directed it this year, and you will find photos of our production down here in Fort Myers, Florida.  A musical friend and I wrote some tunes, and we used other tunes in the public domain. To help the audience see the relevance of killing an albatross to other forms of environmental destruction I wrote a couple of scenes for an adult and two kids. Though faithful to Coleridge’s words for the most part, I cut out parts of his denouement. Another editorial decision was to divide the ancient mariner into two parts, the…

Laura graduated in the late seventies.  While she was a student at Friends, she was a drummer for a group called the Student Teachers that played regularly at CBGB. Her experience in that world is recorded in a book I read and reported about on this site a few years ago.  Now she has collaborated with Liz Lamere, the widow of Suicide’s Alan Vega, on an in-depth biography of Alan, from his childhood as a brilliant kid in Brooklyn to his death. 

His childhood and youth are at odds with the iconoclastic performer he became.   At first, he seemed destined to become a renowned astrophysicist. Then he began to excel in the world of painting and sculpture.  Even as he shone in these divergent areas, there was another hidden identity that awaited discovery. 

The experience of seeing Iggy Pop altered his life.  The performance he witnessed was revolutionary.  Iggy Pop…

Let Me Take You Down, Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever, by Jonathan Cott

Jonathan Cott has a long history with The Beatles, having interviewed them over the years for Rolling Stone. Jonathan interviewed Lennon for nine hours just a few days before he was murdered. This was John Lennon’s last interview.

In this book, Jonathan follows the format which he used in his book about Maurice Sendak. He interviews individuals who will have a particular way of looking at the work in question. In the Sendak book we were looking at Outside Over There. In this book, we are looking at two songs that came out in 1967 and were the two sides of one record. Apparently, there was pressure on the Beatles to get something out before Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was ready to be released. In Spain. John wrote Strawberry Fields Forever, with its…