LOL August?

Anyone who has actually read these blogs knows that I am always trying to build up the Comedy collection. I have picked up a few DVD's and with this month's order I really tried to flesh out the Comedy CD collection. I will probably give it a rest after this. I picked up a few classics last month, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, Victor Borge, but this month I went after more modern Comics. Woody Allen, George Carlin, Billy Crystal, Denis Leary, Dennis Miller, Eddie Murphy, Freddie Prinze, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, Sinbad, Jonathan, Winters, and Steve Martin should fill the Comedy bin. Hopefully there will be something here to make Everybody Laugh out Loud.

I've also been researching the Blues. Blues is one of those folk art forms that has had various levels of appeal over the years. During the the 20's and 30's when new music publishers were looking for music to record many Blues Folk artists were lucky enough to get recorded even when their music may not have been very popular. Many Jazz artists got their start playing the blues, but it faded in popularity until a resurgence in the 60's when it had a major impact on British Rock and by a round about way American rock. Blind Lemon Jefferson is a Texas Blues Classic, while Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Leroy Carr, Big Bill Broonzy, T-Bone Walker, Son House, and John Lee Hooker should stock the Library's collection great Blues legends and an important piece of American Musical tradition.

AUGUST COMEDY

Woody Allen Stand Up Comic: 1964-1968

Woody Allen on Comedy

Class Clown by George Carlin

Fm & Am by George Carlin

Mahvelous by Billy Crystal

Lock 'N Load by Denis Leary

Off-White Album by Dennis Miller

Greatest Comedy Hits by Eddie Murphy

Looking Good by Freddie Prinze

Born Suspect by Chris Rock

A Night at the Met by Robin Williams

Brain Damaged by Sinbad

Crank(y) Calls by Jonathan Winters

Wild and Crazy Guy by Steve Martin

Lets Get Small by Steve Martin

Latin Music

La voz de Un Angel By Yuridia

Blues

Best of Blind Lemon Jefferson

Charley Patton complete recorded works Vol.1

King of the Delta Blues Singers Robert Johnson

Blues Before Sunrise Leroy Carr

Young Big Bill Broozney

T-Bone Blues T-Bone Walker

Original Delta Blues Son House

Healer John Lee Hooker

March Time

A couple of Weeks ago I watched the movie Sign of the Cross. It was different. It's a Cecil B. DeMille film with over the top opulence and it is one those movies that is transitional from silents to talkies so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but true movie buffs, but it sort of woke me up to the actor Fredric March. March had a long career that began towards the end of the Silent era and ended in the early 70's. March won two Tony awards and two Oscars and is one of the few actors that made the transition from leading man to character actor. He just seems to appear in a lot of very good movies. I know I haven't specifically picked any movie for the Library's collection just because he was in it but consider some of the movies he's in that the Library owns on either DVD or VHS:

Hombre: He plays the corrupt Dr. Alex Favor.
Seven Days in May, He plays President Lyman.
Inherit the Wind, He's Matthew Brady
Desperate Hours, He's the Father Dan C Hilliard
Best years of our Lives, He got an Oscar for playing Al Stephenson
A star is born. Norman Maine
Death takes a holiday. He plays Death (Remade as Meet Joe Black)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He played both and got an academy award for it.

Three excellent movies he made which the Library doesn't not own but which I will purchase if and when I can find them on DVD.

I married a Witch (the inspiration for Bewitched)
Executive Suite
Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Check out this under-appreciated but special Actor.

Classical Muse

I rarely listen to Classical music when I'm driving. Road noise kills classical music. Rock is much better for driving. I sometimes wonder if driving isn't what's frozen music into it's current format. I mean when you're driving what the heck? Crank it up and blow the doors off. Most driving trips are short anyway. A ten to fifteen minute drive to work, school or the store, that's just about perfect for a song or two. Of course most pop music is dance music. Even Classical has its minuets and waltzes, I can see dancing to a waltz but I cant imagine dancing to a symphony, so I know that the average drivetime isn't the only factor in the length required for a piece of(Rock, Rap, Country) music. Originally it was the 78 vinyl format that set the length. Record Publishers wanted songs that would fit on a 78 record and songs of pre determined length were perfect for AM DJ's to play between commercials. But generally loud music is perfect for listening to while in your car.

Two of my favorite pieces of music are Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, second movement and Mendelssohn' Hebrides Concerto but I can't listen to either one of them in the car. Both have delicate subtlety that gets drown out in the car. This is not to say either of them are weak. Beethoven's Seventh second movement is the most powerful piece of music ever written. I get chills every time I hear it. Every time! I have to stop the car to listen to it. Makes me late every time. Loud isn't powerful. Loud is just music with an amp. If you want true power and genius in music, try Beethoven, just do't listen to it in the car. Actually I did used to listen Holst's "The Planets" while driving to work when I worked in Dallas. There's nothing better than listening to 'Mars God of War' for battering my way through Dallas freeway congestion. Try it sometime but don't tell the State Trooper I suggested to you as good driving music.

July Music

My July order is finishing up my Billboard's Number One Hits Extravaganza. It's always struck me how 'Critically Acclaimed' and 'Number One Hit' never seem to match. But these are the ones people from their high school days. Also in this order are two new collections I'm working on. In this order and the August order I made a big effort to get Comedy. Victor Borge, Lenny Bruce, Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, and Rodney Dangerfield all made it into this order. I also started working on Blues. Blues has an unusual history. Basically it's southern black folk music and it would have been forgotten except by musicologists except that during the 20's and early 30's the record companies were running around looking for music to record both for vinyl records and radio. Blues, like early Country found it's way onto radio this way, but while Country developed a permanent home on radio with 'Grand Ole Opry' and 'Louisiana Hay Ride', the Blues sort of faded away even thought it did have a major influence on Jazz. The Blues then went through a major revival in the 50's and 60's. Many of the old Blues men were rediscovered. The British were huge fans of American Blues and Groups like the Rolling Stones got their start as an English Blues band.

(Three Progressive Rock Albums I missed before.)
Days of Future Passed - Moody Blues
On the Threshold of a Dream - Moody Blues
In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson

Albums with Number One Hits

Purple Rain - Prince
Around the World in a Day - Prince
Sign O' the Times - Prince
Best of Me - Bryan Adams
Broken Wings - Mr. Mister
Riptide - Robert Palmer
Like a Virgin - Madonna
True Blue - Madonna
Fore! - Huey Lewis
Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
New Jersey - Bon Jovi
Appetite for Destruction - Guns N' Roses
Back in the High Life - Steve Winwood

Comedy

Caught in the Act - Victor Borge
Comedy in Music - Victor Borge
Phonetically Speaking - Victor Borge
Radio Stars of America - Jack Benny
Radio Stars of America - Burns and Allen
Lenny Bruce Originals Volume 1
Lenny Bruce Originals Volume 2
20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection: Best of Rodney Dangerfield

Blues
Back Door Wolf - Howlin Wolf
His Best - Little Walter
Blind Boy Fuller Remastered: 1935-1938

Odds & Ends
War of the Worlds - Orson Welles
Bali - Gamelan (Balinese Pop-Folk)

July DVD's

I just submitted my July DVD order and half the order is Non-fiction. In most ways the Non-Fiction DVD collection is harder to build than Fiction. Some subjects do not translate well onto film and the selection tools are much better for Movies and Television than for non fiction. There are tons of books, magazines, and websites devoted to reviewing movies and television but almost nothing for non-fiction. Amazon is helpful but I don't really know whether to trust their reviews, although generally I assume that something must really be a dog if all it gets are negative reviews on Amazon. Most of this month's Non-Fiction are what I call 'Gap Orders" I'm trying to fill gaps in the DVD collection. There's travel, Science, history, and the Arts. The Arts are always conducive to DVD.

I had much more fun was working on the Fiction collection. Now I'm going through and trying make sure I have the major works of Film Icons. I was amazed that I didn't have very many of Errol Flynn's movies so I sort of went nuts. I think I got every movie where Errol Flynn played a pirate and each movie where they made him do Hollywood's version of India. I'm also curious to see the Sun Also Rises. Errol Flynn's last three movies were supposed to be his best as an actor but I also want to see Gentleman Jim, which was Flynn's personal Favorite. I also made a big buy of Bette Davis movies. She was never my favorite actress but she is a Hollywood Icon and many of her movies, like Of Human Bondage, Jezebel, and the Petrified Forest are required viewing for serious film buffs.

Don't miss Gunga Din it's the best of Hollywood's infatuation with the British Raj or Beckett an award winning play that featured Peter O'toole Richard Burton at their very best.

Non-Fiction DVD's

La Boheme - The Royal Opera
La Traviatia
Wagner - Der Ring Des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold
Don Giovanni
Travel with Kids: Hawaii the Islands of Oahu
Travel with kids Caribbean
Rick Steves 1000-2007 Italy's countryside
Great Railroad Adventures: Swiss Rail Journeys Vol. 1
Great Railroad Adventures: SwisslRail Journeys Vol. 2
Secret Yellowstone
Secret Yosemite
Blackbeard: Terror at Sea
Great Masters of the Italian Renaissance
Rembrandt Collection
Art of the Pas De Deux
Art of the Pas De Deux Vol.2
Ants - Little Creatures Who Rule the World
Bees - Tales from the Hive
Addams Family - Volume 1 (Season 1)


Fiction DVD's
Apocalypto Mel Gibson's non PC tale of pre Columbian Maya
Addams Family Values Gleefully ghoulish humor delivered with just the right touch.
Becket Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton do a superb job in this film adaptation of an award winning play.
Charge of the Light Brigade: An Errol Flynn swashbuckler from the Golden Age of Hollywood, but I still can't figure out how India got into it. Oh well that's Hollywood.
Captain Blood: This is THE Errol Flynn Pirate movie.
Sea Hawk: Okay this is the other Errol Flynn pirate movie. Both are superb.
Prince and the Pauper: Another Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Alan Hale movie, but Hey they were really good at it.
Dawn Patrol: Another great war movie. I've been trying to get this one for a while.
Sun Also Rises: Hemingway wrote it, Flynn, Ava Gardner, Tyrone Powers, and Mel Ferrer all acted in it. Flynn proved he could act.
Kim: Errol Flynn in India again.
Gentleman Jim. Based on the life of boxer Gentleman Jim Corbett.
Gunga Din: This time it's Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in India
Operation Petticoat: Blake Edwards directs Cary Grant and Tony Curtis so get ready to laugh out loud.
Of Human Bondage: This one Made Bette Davis a star.
Petrified Forest: I got this one for Bette Davis but watch it for Humphrey Bogart. It made him a star.
Jezebel: Bette Davis got an Oscar for this one, and William Wyler directs with Henry Fonda co-staring.
Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex: Bette Davis as Elizabeth I and Errol Flynn as the Privateer Essex (another Errol Flynn Pirate move!)
Man Who Came to Dinner: Bette Davis doing Comedy! I've got to see this one.
Mr. Skeffington: Masterful Bette Davis Melodrama.