Record Store Day & National Library Week

Since Record Store Day and National Library Week collided this year on April 19th, I celebrated by gathering  library quotes from some of my favorite record players.

I met my wife Elizabeth when she was a library assistant in college I frequented the library often and my grades went up. 
--Mike Bortke

As a wee Beatle-infected child at home in my room, reading about music was the perfect companion to listening TO music … especially after the parental units had yelled in the direction of my record player: "Turn that DOWN!" Once I "grew up" (sort of) and became an actual music maker myself though, the library was always the ideal place on the road on tour to settle down and let ones ears cool off. Until whoever was driving the van would yell "C'mon Gary, let's Go! We're LATE!"
--Gary Pig Gold

I used to read Rolling Stone in my school library. It was there that I first saw pictures of the CBGB crowd....some of whom are my friends to this day!
--Richard Citroen

 I had two greet aunts who were Oakland librarians for over forty years each. One became head of purchasing as well as the History archives. She dropped out of high school to work at the library. The other was branch librarian. The love of libraries runs in the family.
-- Christie Eikeberg Sulaiman

Without books and films, I would never have picked up a pen in earnest…
--Alan Moore


ps. Don't worry if you missed Record Store Day. To make up for it, I recommend pre-ordering the new Camper Van Beethoven album, El Camino Real. Every day is a good day to buy music.

Record Covers

Here's a great gift for your favorite Crumb . . . it's the latest anthology of record cover artwork by cartoonist R. Crumb!

Crumb, R. R. Crumb: The Complete Record Cover Collection.
New York, N.Y: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc, 2011. Print.

And speaking of record covers . . . have you seen Alfra Martini's reproductions of iconic album covers? The series is called The Kitten Covers. Take a look!

Simon, Paul, and Art Garfunkel. Bridge Over Troubled Water.
New York: Columbia, 1970. Sound recording.

U2.War. New York: Island, 1991. Sound recording.

Clash: London Calling. 1979. Sound recording.

Beatles. Let it Be. London: Apple, 1970. Sound recording.

Morrison, Van. Moondance. Burbank, Calif: Warner Bros, 1970. Sound recording.

A Few of My Favorite Songwriters

I stole this idea from the lovely Miss Trixie:

King, Carole. Tapestry. S.l.: Epic, 1971. Sound recording.

Here are fifteen of my favorite songwriters and songwriting teams in no particular order:

1. Joni Mitchell
2. Johnny Hickman & David Lowery (as a team and as solo writers)

3. Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II


4. John Lennon & Paul McCartney
5. Freddie Mercury & David Bowie (as a team and as solo writers)


6. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
7. Chris LeRoy


8. John Prine


9. Irving Berlin
10. Carole King


11. Willie Nelson


12. Dolly Parton

13. George and Ira Gershwin

14. Neil Sedaka

(Sedaka wrote this song about Carole King.)

15. Burt Bacharach

Praise

video by Spike Jonze

Here are a few of my favorite pop/rock songs that have a religious theme:

Let it Be by The Beatles

Whenever God Shines His Light by Van Morrison
It's really fun to sing along with Cliff Richard's back up vocals.

Morrison, Van. Avalon Sunset. S.l.: Exile Productions, 2008

Praise You by Fat Boy Slim

Fatboy, Slim. You've Come a Long Way, Baby. NY: Astralwerks/Skint, 1998.

Gloria by U2
When I met Bono back in 1982, I was so starstruck that all I could say to him was, "Gloria is my favorite song ever." He asked why, and I was too tongue-tied to elaborate.

Serve Somebody by Bob Dylan

Dylan, Bob. Slow Train Coming. New York, N.Y: Columbia, 1979.

My Sweet Lord by George Harrison


I Can't Wait to Meetchu by Macy Gray

White, Black, and Blue

First there was The White Album:

The Beatles [i.e White album]. [London]: Apple, 1968.

Then there was The Black Album:

Prince. The black album. WB, 1994.

And now there is The Blue Album!

The Dangers. [Inland Empire]: Lo-Fi Studios, 2009.

How to annoy a librarian

"Most people think of them [librarians] as all mousy and quiet and telling everyone to 'SHHHHH!' I'm now convinced that 'shush' is just the sound of the steam coming out of their ears as they sit there plotting the revolution."

--Michael Moore.

Here is a sampling of some of the bizarre incidents I have encountered during my 23 years of working in public libraries. I must add that NONE of the following events occurred at the wonderful library where I happily work now.

*A guy handed me the book Women on Top with all the pages stuck together.

 *A man was banned from the library for sneaking up behind women and cutting off their ponytails.

*One of my friends, a petite librarian, was punched in the nose by a drunk guy when she asked him to put his bottle away.

*Another drunk guy called another one of my colleagues a "C U Next Tuesday." He died the following week of hypothermia. 

*A group of teenage boys threw their poop at each other in the reading room.

*A junkie overdosed in the children's bathroom.

*I came across an abandoned newborn baby. When I located the mother upstairs, she asked if it was making too much noise.

*While they were waiting in line to check out books, a preschooler told her mother that she had to poop. The mother pulled out a portable potty and had the girl relieve herself within inches of other patrons. The mother could have easily taken the girl into the restroom, but explained that she didn't want to lose her place in line.

*A patron complained that I had too much "devil" music. She was mad because I had an Ozzy Osbourne CD in the collection.

*Another patron complained that I had too much Christian music in the collection. The only "Christian" music I had was an Amy Grant cross-over pop album.

*A library volunteer told me that I shouldn't have Jerry Garcia's CD's in the collection because he was a known pot smoker. I got a little snotty and asked if he wanted to throw out the Beatles, too.

*A patron wanted to have a YA book taken off the shelf because the characters didn't use condoms. Not only was the book published before the AIDS crisis, but the sex scene was tastefully vague.

*During Teen Read Week, we had an outdoor "Rocktober" Battle of the Bands. We gave away glow sticks as party favors. A teacher complained that we were promoting the "rave" culture. She may have been right. Later that evening a teenager tried to jump off the roof.

*When visiting a potential job site, I noticed that they kept a baseball bat behind the circulation desk and a golf club behind the reference desk.

*One time a customer had a temper tantrum and threw a book across the circulation desk. I ducked.

Please remember that 99.9% of public libraries are perfectly safe, quiet, and welcoming. However, like in all public buildings, it is never a good idea to leave children unattended or to totally let down your guard.

Happy Birthday, Mary!

Happy Sweet Sixteen to my cousin, Mary!

Best wishes from Chuck Berry:

Ringo:

and the Beatles:

Altered Images:

Neil Sedaka:

The Crests:

Bruce:

and Cracker, of course!