Bruce Slutsky was born in New York City in 1949. I retired six years ago after working as a Science/Engineering Librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark for 25 years. I was married to Karen until she passed away in February 2021. I have a son Lee who is now 35 years old. I am very much interested in the popular music of the 1960s, especially Bob Dylan and the Beatles. I am interested in rock and roll radio. I am an enthusiastic fan of the New York Mets.
Dan Ingram Aircheck on WABC from August 1962 posted by Ellis Feaster
WABC was the premier Top 40 radio station from 1960 until 1982 when it became a talk radio station. It featured personalities including:
Dan Ingram
Harry Harrison
Cousin Bruce Morrow
Chuck Leonard
Ron Lundy
Charlie Greer
For several years WABC broke format on Memorial Day and played airchecks from the golden age of Musicradio WABC. After a while, WABC stopped doing this, but Allan Sniffen continued the tradition by playing recordings on WABC the entire Memorial Day weekend on Rewound Radio which usually plays oldies. It is nice to listen to the radio the way it was while we were growing up in the 1960s and 1970s. Thank you Allan Sniffen.
Bruce with Don K, Reed at Long Island Radio Day in 2010
I get very few online comments about entries in this Journal. I always wonder what people think about this journal in general or specific entries. Maybe people think I am too much of a Bob Dylan nut. Anyway, yesterday I received a letter from Russell from Lancaster PA. commenting about the entry I wrote about Don K. Reed back in 2009. Don was a radio personality on WCBS-FM who specialized in Doo Wop music. He left the station in 2005 when WCBS-FM made the terrible switch to the dreadful Jack format.
I certainly appreciate his taking the time to write a letter to me and using the postal service the old-fashioned way to get it to me. If he was able to find my mailing address on the internet, he certainly could have found my email address just as easily.
I will have to come back to this journal entry to listen to many of the 80 covers listed. Every entry is followed by a Youtube video with the song. The covers obviously range from the ridiculous to the sublime. All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix was number 1 while Mr. Tambourine Man by William Shatner was #80.
I am likely much older than the average WFUV listener. They certainly made good choices for Dylan's Top 80 songs. Lee's favorite, Tangled Up in Blue, was voted #1 just ahead of Like a Rolling Stone. My favorite, Maggies Farm, came in at #46.
Tangled
Up in Blue
Like
a Rolling Stone
Don't
Think Twice, It's All Right
Visions
of Johanna
A
Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
Blowin'
in the Wind
Desolation
Row
Positively
4th Street
Mr.
Tambourine Man
Hurricane
Forever
Young
Shelter
from the Storm
Idiot
Wind
Simple
Twist of Fate
Highway
61 Revisited
Stuck
Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
I don't know. I have posted every other year on his non-milestone birthdays. There is nothing new to say. Everyone and his brother who is a fan or scholar has already written something. So, there is no sense in repeating what they have said.
I'll just say Happy Birthday and many more. Thanks for your songs and recordings over the decades.
Picture of Bob Dylan that I saw today at the Jewish Museum
Absholam Jac Lahav - American Born in Israel 1977 is the artist
I thought it was time for another museum trip as I hadn't visited one in about a month. The Jewish Museum at 5th Avenue and 92nd Street was my choice.
There were two exhibits of interest:
Modern Look: Photography and the American Magazine - It explored how photography in popular American Magazines transformed American visual culture from the 1930s through the1950s. Works by photographers including Richard Avedon, Lillian Bassman, Lester Beall, Margaret Bourke-White, Louis Faurer, Robert Frank, William Klein, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Cipe Pineles, and Paul Rand were featured.
Louise Bourgeois Freuds Daughter - It features approximately 40 artworks from throughout Bourgeois’s career, including the Personages of the late 1940s; the organic forms in plaster and latex of the 1960s; the pivotal installation The Destruction of the Father (1974). The exhibit also presents writings that explore her complex relationship with Freudian psychoanalysis.
When I joined the Society of
American Baseball Research (SABR) I became acquainted with Bill Nowlin who
is an expert on the Boston Red Sox and a prolific author of books and
articles about players, games, and other baseball research topics.When I read his essays, I am impressed by his
ability to research obscure baseball players.I coordinate fact-checking games project articles for SABR.There are few if any errors in his
contributions.
I knew a little bit about Rounder
Records and that Bill was one of the founders but was not aware of the details
of how the company was started and how it grew.I just had to get hold of his recent book:
Nowlin, Bill, 1945- author. Vinyl ventures: my fifty years
at Rounder Records / Bill Nowlin. Bristol: Equinox Publishing Ltd, 2021.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book as I read it in three sitting
as I sat on park benches in Queens.I
found that the detail in Bill’s baseball publications is found in this book as
well. In part, the book is autobiographical with minimal reference to his
baseball interests and publications.Bill certainly has lived a very active life in his roles in the music
business and as a baseball historian.Where did he find the time to do everything?
I read with the book with my smartphone in my pocket with
the Amazon.com app.I bought:
Rounder Records' 40th Anniversary Concert Compilation CD
True Believers: The Musical Family of Rounder Records DVD
I highly recommend this book to all interested in the music
industry.I suggest that SABR members
read the book to become aware of the other side of Bill Nowlin.
Matt Scutchfield interviews Bill Nowlin about the book
The Never Ending Tour began In 1988 and continued until late 2019 just before the COVID-19 pandemic. I last saw him at the Beacon Theater in November 2019. He scheduled a concert at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in July 2020, but that was obviously canceled. The coronavirus vaccines seem to be working as hospitalizations and deaths declined in the United States over the past few months. The pandemic is certainly not over, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I vaguely remember seeing concerts being scheduled for the fall. But what will Bob Dylan do? He will be 80 years old in a few days and may feel it is time to end touring. Maybe he will do just a few concerts. Who knows?
This online conference starts on Saturday and ends on Monday, May 24th which is Dylan's 80th birthday. The pandemic has necessitated numerous conferences to go online. For me, the advantages of this conference going online are that I save time and money by not having to travel to Tulsa and pay for airfare, hotel, and food. Over the past year, I have attended many 1-2 hour conferences online, but this will be the first time that I will attend a long conference with events from 9:30 AM - 10:30 PM. Th disadvantages are:
Having to sit for hours at a time at a computer screen. I guess anyone's rear end can get sore after sitting for hours.
There are always distractions while staying at home. I will likely be tempted to leave my computer to watch the Mets or do errands that are essential
The entire event will be delivered through Microsoft Teams with almost all sessions streamed using as Microsoft Live events. All events will be archived so they may be viewed at a future date. I think I will take advantage of that option.
The New York Post reports that legendary sportscaster Marv Albert will retire after the 2021 NBA Playoffs. He will be 80 years old in June so I think he deserves to go into the land of rest and relaxation. He broadcast his first Knick game in 1963 as he filled in for Marty Glickman, another broadcasting legend. He is best known as the voice of the New York Knicks from 1967-2004 on radio and television. For many years he also did radio broadcasts for the New York Rangers and football Giants. He is currently the lead play-by-play announcer for National Basketball Association games on TNT, a position he assumed in 1999.
His honors and awards include:
Cable ACE Award – six times.
Curt Gowdy Media Award – awarded by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, 1997.
American Sportscasters Association Sportscaster of the Year (Play-by-Play) – 1996. Other honorees included Sportscaster of the Year (Studio Host) Chris Berman, Hall of Fame inductee Jack Whitaker, Sports Legend Joe Frazier and Honorary Sportscaster Dr. Henry Kissinger.
Emmy Award – for national sports: five times; for New York: three times.
Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame – inducted in 2006.
National Jewish Museum Sports Hall of Fame – inducted in 1992
New York State Sportscaster of the Year – twenty times.
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame – inducted in 2014
The Bob Dylan Center, announced on Wednesday, will include rare and never-before-seen lyric manuscripts, photographs, songs, and footage, alongside a new “immersive film experience” and a “recreation of an authentic studio environment.” I am sure that my Dylan enthusiast friends will want to come on opening day next May. I think I will wait a few months since it will likely be very crowded during the first week. I will feel like a kid in a candy store when I do come. Certainly, more details will become available as Opening Day approaches. More information may be found in the New York Times.
No fans were permitted in major ballparks in 2020 on account of the pandemic. Presently Citi Field is allowed 20% capacity which would be about 8300 fans. I was able to get a ticket at the last minute from Stub Hub and sat upstairs in the Promenade for my first game in 20 months. It was necessary for fans to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test to get in.
Matt Harvey who had pitched six seasons for the Mets was facing his former team for the first time. He received a warm reception from the fans. He allowed three runs in the second inning allowing four hits in a row. He left the game after pitching 4 1/3 innings allowing 7 runs and 8 hits with 4 strikeouts.
Tijuan Walker was outstanding for the Mets allowing one run and four hits in 7 innings.
Cowbell Man was in the stadium but the man who yells after every strikeout was nowhere to be heard. I think by the next homestand more fans will be allowed in the park with sections set aside for those already fully vaccinated.
As member of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) I
had the pleasure of speaking to David Krell on the phone about baseball. I was attracted to his new book 1962:
Baseball in America in the Time of JFK.
I was 13 years old in 1962 and was a fan of the original New York Mets
and suffered through their futility in their inaugural year. Krell stated that originally his book was to
consider only the original New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s, but it was a
good thing that he expanded on that. Almost
all baseball books discuss only the sport, and not how it integrated into the
popular culture. Krell discusses movies, television, books, politics, and
current events as he takes his readers back in time. It certainly brought back memories for me as I
was a teenager that year. Younger
readers can benefit by learning about baseball and the popular culture of that
time. I enjoyed reading about the lesser-known
players on the original Mets. One reason
the book is unique is that he provides information about the original Houston
Colt .45s not readily available. I was
quite impressed by the research he did by interviews and original newspaper
accounts. I am happy that he
acknowledged the help he received from librarians as that was my former
profession. My only disappointment was
there was very little mention of the popular music of that era. I can read about the golden oldies in other
places.
Donovan is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock, and world music (notably calypso). I have followed his career since the mid-1960s and have many of his albums in my collection.
Sunny South Kensington appeared on the album called Mellow Yellow but was also the B-side of the single of the same name. I rate it as my favorite B-Side.
Variety Magazine reports that recording artist Lloyd Price has passed away at 88. I didn't realize that he was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Below is his big hit Personality. I hope Cousin Brucie plays it tonight.
Willie Mays is certainly MLB's greatest living player as I salute him on his 90th birthday. He is one of 11 players still living who played for the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. I best remember him for finishing his Hall of Fame career for the Mets from 1972-3. He played in the 1973 World Series.
It is hard to believe that Lee's Bar Mitzvah was 20 years ago today. Karen and I were proud of Lee's performance at the temple. Things have changed very much over the years. The service was at Temple Israel of Jamaica which merged with a synagogue in New Hyde Park. The building is now a mosque. The reception was at a restaurant called Harper's which is now a Mexican restaurant under another name. When I looked at the photos, I was saddened to see that so many people have passed away.
Ringo Starr was interviewed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He explicitly stated that Come Together was his favorite Beatle song. I am surprised that he didn't say Yellow Submarine.😀
I certainly have documented in this journal several trips to the Whitney Museum since 2011. I thought today would be a good time to have a return visit. We started out on the top floor by viewing the exhibit Dawoud Bey: An American Project. Bey is a photographer who chronicles communities and histories that have been largely underrepresented or even unseen.
One of the photographs from that exhibit
Much of the rest of the museum was devoted to samples from the museum's rich collection.
A work by Andy Warhol
For some reason, this statue reminds me of Richard Nixon.
An exhibit was devoted to the works of JulieMehretu, an Ethiopian artist who specializes in abstract art. She creates new forms and finds unexpected resonances by drawing from the histories of art and human civilization.
by Julie Mehretu
I'll return to the Whitney later in the year when the exhibitions change.
