On Yore Side

Doxology

So David Cook’s take on the classic ‘Eleanor Rigby’ got alot of buzz because it sounded pretty rad and alot of people heard it. I heard it and it actually made me perk up my ear and stop typing until it was over. But was it good enough to warrant an unknown band called Doxology crying “foul” with the claim that David stole their arrangement of the classic song?

…Look, it’s a cover song guys. And American Idol is a singing competition.
If you’re so desperate for acknowledgement that you want to copyright your cool way of jamming a song, get over it. I have songwriting classes available at my studio, and marketing services available for a monthly fee, if variations on on another person’s song is all you have for a claim to fame!

And second of all, guess what? David Cook is a cover artist. That’s what people on American Idol do- they sing other people’s songs and arrangements. They sing covers. The remaining Beatles aint pissed, but you are? Aint that kind of ridiculous?

Simon isn’t looking for Bob Dylans, people- he’s looking for a Britney Spears. The producer will be doing the songs and the arrangements, if there’s a record deal to me made, so get over it!

Getting free press is one thing, but gee-whiz! You Doxology guys are just blatantly hamming it up over the top!

BTW Didn’t this happen before on Idol? A cover band sueing a cover band for covering their cover?

Reprinted from 1999 Creative Loafing Atlanta

Longtime homecoming
Amsteram’s funk/blues queen returns to Georgia

BY J. LYON LAYDEN

Rosa King might be the most celebrated saxophonist and blues diva ever to come out of Georgia. She’s played worldwide — headlining festivals in Europe and Asia, including eight appearances at the North Sea Jazz Festival. She starred in movies, TV shows (including episodes of “Sesame Street”) and documentaries, including the cult classic Come Back with Eric Burdon of the Animals.

If you’ve never heard of her, you’re not alone; she’s virtually unknown in her home state. King left her Macon hometown at 18 and has never played a show with her own band anywhere in the South — until now. This week, after more than 30 years as a dancer, sidewoman and bandleader, King comes home for a string of Georgia shows. On her way to South Africa for the first time to play a week-long festival in Capetown, King plays Oct. 12 at the 40 Watt Club in Athens and Oct. 13 at the Northside Tavern in Atlanta.

“Isn’t it strange? I’ve played for millions of people over a very big part of this world but have never played in my home state or hometown,” says King.

King got her start in show business as a dancer in Macon, performing for school parties and at local joint the Young Men’s Club. “Like most small-town girls who dreamed of bright lights and big cities, I was one of those waiting from a very early age to leave home and see what was waiting for me in the outside world — any place except at home.”

When the Charles Taylor and the Bronze Mannikens traveling show came to Macon looking for acts, young Rosa saw her chance. She joined up, performing in tents and theaters all over the South for six months until she and some others found themselves stranded in Memphis. When an Arkansas promoter rescued them and put them back on the road, King and the others earned enough money to pay him back and buy one-way tickets to New York City.

Once established in New York, King landed a regular show at Brooklyn’s Baby Grand, where she befriended the house band’s leader, Eddie Coombs.

“One day I told him about my desire to sing,” King recalls, “so he told me that if I learned a couple of songs, he and the band would practice with me and I could sing the songs with them when things were slow in the club. So I did, and that was the beginning of my singing career!”

After traveling with Coombs for a few years across America and Canada, King went out on her own. It was here that she first picked up the saxophone. “My intention was to make a dancing show, but I fell in love with the damn [saxophone] and have been in love with it until this day,” she says.

After some gigs with Lionel Hampton and others, Rosa was hired to perform with a Dutch soul show in Holland. In her off time in Amsterdam, she hooked up with bassist Rainer Bleck and a group of musicians. By the time her show contract ended, King had decided to stay in Holland and hit the road with these musicians, who became known as the Upside Down. Meanwhile, she kept her apartment in New York and sometimes flew back to play gigs in town and tour with Ben E. King (no relation). During one of those trips back, King got stuck in a two-month residency at Joe’s Pier 52.

“It was supposed to be for a couple of weeks, but the owners kept holding us over,” King remembers. “Meanwhile, my band Upside Down was waiting for me to come back to Holland so they could go back to work. It was like having two lovers and wanting to keep them both. Well, I made it up to Upside Down later; I took them to New York, and we played that same club for two months.”

King first made her mark as a great sax player during one of her first appearances at the North Sea Jazz Festival, where she broke into the “Tenor Battle” and stole the show. Since then she has been playing her sometimes riveting, sometimes elegant horn to packed houses in Europe’s finest clubs and festivals. As impressive with a ballad as she is with Latin jazz, she possesses a repertoire of originals that runs the spectrum from rock to funk, fusion to R&B and reggae to blues. Indeed, European press clippings reveal how she’s sometimes branded as jazz, other times as blues and still other times as pop.

While she’s become an icon in Holland — acclaimed as the most entertaining performer in the world, as witty and charismatic as she is musically dynamic — she comes to the U.S. only to visit her mother in Macon. Now, decades after leaving Georgia for the lure of show business, the lure of the show brings her back.

The Waves of War
by J. Lyon Layden and Kenny Savage

On the wind the song’s a wing, hear the rainbow fouls sing.

Hammer nails at morning light, breakfast bell, know I’m right I know the smell.

Wax the turnips, start the fire, hitch the mule, drive that plow.

In this toil there is no rest, like the beast, I labor for a meager feast.

Solo

Lay you weary down and rest, tomorrow’s chores will be no less.

Rooster crows I’m mending fence, least I know, I pay my taxes hence I owe.

For so long this land has slumbered, hear the quake of far off thunder.

A crawling darkness this way comes, like the snake, storm head strikes and eats the sun.

Solo
Chorus

When I heard the call I put my tools away, sharpened up my spear and
blade.

I saw them burn my fields in the waxing moon, they stole my sweat
and dreams that day.

Your blood has cursed this soil now it’s turned to clay, where once my
sons and daughter played.

I remember fields of green not so long ago, no treading boots let
nothing grow.

Hot fire swirls in bitter cold, straw roofs burn like shining gold.

On we march for his cold black heart, wave like flame, leaving only cinders for survivors to remember.

Against the tide vast armies stall, in waves their legions clash and fall.

A lone beam shines on bone chipped ground, a red rose grows and
our troops fight and scramble to smash it down!

Solo

Feel the steel, let red blood pour, your master’s leash will burn no more.

We’ll serve your heads at a full moon feast, eat our fill, toast to the banner that will never see surrender.

He bellows forth and mocks their pain, fierce defiance, all in vain.

Damned to hell but I must prove, I’m no fool and I’ll see you when the waves come crashing down!

2008 year of the Frog
Feb 29 Leap Frog Day!

I just got this letter from AmphibianArk thanking us for signing the petition that will hopefully save frogs from extinction and thought I would share it with all you readers! The epidemic that frogs and other amphibians are facing requires our help, and hopefully these words will inspire you to donate a little of your spare change to the cause. Also, you could buy that copy of The Other Side of Yore you’ve been wanting in the knowledge that a a portion of the royalties will go to this important cause!

Here’s the letter:

Thank you for recently joining thousands around the world who are petitioning our governments to take actions to save amphibians. I don’t need to tell you that frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians are facing the most significant mass extinction since the dinosaurs.

I’m Jean-Michel Cousteau, and I am writing to you on behalf of Amphibian Ark, the global nonprofit organization that is coordinating the emergency rescue of the most threatened amphibian species. I am joining Sir David Attenborough, Jeff Corwin, and thousands of zoos, aquaria, and conservation organizations to support Amphibian Ark in rallying our planet to avert this mass extinction.

I write this to you on the eve of Feb. 29, 2008, which is called Leap Day in the United States and, in this special “Year of the Frog,” is being call the International Day of the Frog.

Our collective success will come down to the money that is raised – from companies, and governments, and individuals like you and me. I am heartened at hearing stories of grade school children asking their birthday party guests to make donations to Amphibian Ark in lieu of a gift; and a British Isles couple that asked for donations to Amphibian Ark instead of wedding presents.

This indeed is a cause where small donations can add up to the saving of an endangered species. The physical plan for rescuing the most critically threatened amphibians involves converting trailer-sized containers into breeding centers, and training people to oversee the species’ return to healthy populations. The cost of saving an entire species under this plan is $100,000 – compared to other wildlife rescue, this is an amazingly efficient plan.

You are among the thousands who are the first to “jump in” to the amphibian issue. We are counting on you to multiply this number. Here’s what I am asking you to consider:

· Forward this email to 10 people you respect and will thoughtfully consider joining us on what may be considered, years from now, the greatest wildlife “save” in history. Ask them to visit www.amphibianark.org, learn more about the pending crisis — and they can sign the petition on that Web site.
· Stay informed of local conservation and education efforts in your area regarding this crisis. Zoos across the world are holding special educational events tomorrow (Feb. 29) and throughout the year.
· Write your government representative to urge him or her to look into this issue, confer with local zoos and conservation departments, and do all that can be done to save this class of animal life.
· Make a donation, large or small, to Amphibian Ark through its Web site (www.amphibianark.org). Or mail a check to the address at the bottom of this email.

Frogs are a crucial part of the ecosystem, and they act as indicators to the environment’s health. These remarkable creatures may hold the key to unlocking diseases such as depression, stroke, seizures, Alzheimer’s and cancer. It is imperative that we preserve these creatures for ourselves and future generations.

Thank you for being a part of the solution. Through an active dialogue we can generate awareness and education about this issue. Visit www.amphibianark.org for donation and sponsorship information.

Sincerely,

Jean-Michel Cousteau

P.S. The Amphibian Ark mailing address is:
Amphibian Ark
c/o IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group
12101 Johnny Cake Ridge Road
Apple Valley, MN 55124, USA
(952)997-9800 / fax: (952)997-9803
www.amphibianark.org

Art the whole family will love!
Art from the celebrated children’s book!
Art from Kenny Savage!
Art from THE OTHER SIDE OF YORE!!

I first read Robert Jordan as a teenager. I had seen the Conan movies and wanted to read more, and at that time I didn’t even consider that the series might have different authors. I bought the comics, and I bought the books that were being pushed by BandN or Walden or somesuch. Soon I started realizing that there were a whole bunch of authors for Conan. Jordan was briefly my favorite… until I finally got my hands on the original.
Robert E. deftly replaced Robert J., and then he vanished almost entirely from my mind.
Years later I started hearing about this great new author of something called The Wheel of Time, and I remembered the writer’s name from my Conan days. To me he was like a cover band of one the favorite rock-bands of my teenage years, so I didn’t give him much thought and didn’t read the books.
But about the time the author passed away, I spotted The Eye of the World for 50 cents in my library’s donated books pile, and just had to pick it up.
It was a good read and Jordan was a fine writer. The “dark rider” did indeed irk me, as it did in Eragon and Shannarra et al, and the typical characters, scenarios, and plot features did seem a bit droll. But Jordan was no less efficient at suspenseful, intrigueing prose than the majority of writers on the bestseller lists today.
It’s good stuff for a fantasy fan to read, if he or she is hungry for fantasy. Face it, there’s not enough Tolkien/Howard/Dunsany caliber fantasy to keep us fantasy junkies occupied…and Jordan’s not a bad choice in between gold-mine discoveries.
But i’ve read reviews trashing this book only because the author is said to have drug out the series too long. I think that this is an unfortunate perspective. He summed up “Eye of the World” pretty well, with a climax and everything. Sure there’s more to tell…but does that mean I’ll read the next book?
Perhaps I might sometime, perhaps not. The characters were beginning to become a little too much like superheroes for me, with wolf-eyes and superpowers and such, and I may decide to quit while I’m ahead. But if I do come back to the series someday, I’m sure it will be an exciting and imaginative read until I put it down again.

It might interest some of you to know that I’m no longer designing cabinets for Coastal Millworks, and have gone into business with my Dad at the company where I learned the trade, Layden Custom Cabinets. This week we’re starting the process of redesigning and updating the showroom, as well as starting on some new projects for my old customers. The guys in the shop are currently hard at work on the cabinets for Savannah State University’s latest building and several kitchens and bathrooms in the luxurious Ford Plantation. I’ll keep you all updated on the progress of the showroom, and post some pictures when it’s done.

Fans of Frawg and Dr. Croaks!
YORE Frawg Merchandise is Here!
Many have asked where we got those cool The Other Side of Yore posters, mugs, and shirts that went up for auction at the CCA Banquet last year and are often on display at various events.
Well now you can get them for YORE very own!
As always, a portion of the proceeds is donated to the Amphibian Ark to keep frogs and other amphibians afloat through the chytrid crisis.

Show your support! These cool new calendars from AmphibianArk.org are now available, and YORE dollars will help to save frogs and other amphibians from extinction!

Buy it here!

Amphibian Ark

Online Petition

Frogs and other amphibians are dying. After thriving for over 360 million years, 1/3 to 1/2 of the world’s 6,000 known amphibian species could go extinct in our lifetime – which would be the single greatest mass extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. The urgent danger is chytrid fungus, but other causes include habitat loss, pollution and pesticides, and climate change. Amphibians have long been referred to as the “canaries in the coal mine” – they are among the first species to be affected by environmental stressors, so when they show declines in the wild, it serves as a warning to other species, including humans.

Amphibians are a critical part of a healthy, natural world. In addition to their intrinsic value as a beautiful part of nature, they offer many benefits to us. They play an important role in the food web as both predator and prey, maintaining the delicate balance of nature. They eat pest insects, benefiting successful agriculture around the world and minimizing the spread of diseases, including malaria. The skin of amphibians contains substances that offer possible medical cures for a variety of human diseases, including AIDS.

Amphibians are at risk due to humankind, and it’s up to humankind to save them. If we do nothing, they will disappear forever. We must act, and we must act now. Therefore, zoos, aquariums, and conservation organizations around the world have designated 2008 as The Year of the Frog to raise awareness of the issue.

Here’s how you can help:

Sign this petition calling on support for amphibians by governments around the world.
Visit www.amphibianark.org to make a donation. Amphibian Ark is part of the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP) and will rescue amphibian species that cannot be saved in the wild and protect them in captive facilities until the threats to the wild populations can be controlled – buying valuable time to mitigate threats for species that would otherwise go extinct. The plan requires $50-$60 million in funding.

Sign The Petition Here!