Into the GREAT WIDE OPEN...
...a rebel without a clue...

Yeah, sometimes I resemble that! Actually, "Into The Great Wide Open" is both a song and the title of an album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in 1991. I've been searching for the "vinyl" version of it for over a decade...and I finally FOUND a copy last week up at Mt. Olympus Records, up on 4th Street, in the building that houses NAPA Auto Parts. I usually don't "plug" a lot of businesses, but Ron, the owner, is a friend of mine, a really nice guy, and his store has tons and tons of unusual music. I've also been a customer of "The Long Ear" record shop, ever since they opened up in Coeur d'Alene back in the mid-'80s. Both of these stores are across the street from each other; makes it convenient for me, eh?

Anyway, "Great Wide Open" is a great record, and it's the kind of music that is instantly enjoyable. It usually takes me a while to get used to a new record, but this LP felt like an old friend when I put it on the turntable. It's full of straight-ahead, melodic, UNDERSTANDABLE rock that is very well produced. I learned something about myself when I heard that record; it fell into my "natural groove"; the music just seemed "logical" somehow. Not angry, not sad, just a little fatalistic, with semi-gloomy overtones...heck, that kinda sums ME up, doesn't it? And, it seems that Tom Petty has just gotten better and better over the years.

Albums with a similar "feel" include George Harrison's "Cloud Nine", Roy Orbison's "Mystery Girl" and Jeff Lynne's "Armchair Theatre". All of those albums came out in the aftermath of the "Traveling Wilburys, all produced by ex-Electric Light Orchestra leader Jeff Lynne, and all just sound really good. For me, the "Traveling Wilburys" was a dream come true. Where else are you gonna find George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne all in one place? I special-ordered it when I read of its release, and I'm positive I was the first person in Coeur d'Alene to have a copy of that album...purely enjoyable music.
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I think I'd better stick a picture in here now dept.: Before I get too carried away, writing my rock and roll diatribes, I'd better put some kind of visual element in here; I wouldn't want this blog to get unnecessarily overwrought, after all. Let's hear it for READABILITY!!! Anyway, here's a picture that sorta depicts "The Great Wide Open"...

This is another picture from the early '50s, taken by Leo's Studio in Spokane, showing Coeur d'Alene Mountain, off in the distance, with the lake up front. There is a picnic area not too far from the top of the mountain that you can drive to, and when you're up there, it's almost as if you're looking straight down on the city of Coeur d'Alene and surrounding areas. I used to have a banged-up little Chevette that somehow made the climb up the mountain. That car was my "little tin can on wheels". Powered by a Briggs and Stratton lawn-mower engine. No, I take that back...a Briggs and Stratton engine would've had more power!
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It's enough to give you gas dept.: I passed the place where I get gas a couple of days ago (A & D Mini Mart), and saw that gas prices dropped 3 cents a gallon, currently at $2.13 a gallon, but prices are still "up there", and in a lot of places in the country, they're even higher. Ironically (or not), I read in the paper today that Chevron has made it's highest-ever quarterly profit in the last three months; that non-benevelant corporation raked in almost four and a quarter BILLION (that's right, "billion") dollars in the last three months. Maybe fuel costs are one of the reasons United Airlines has lost money for five and a half years in a row now? Or why my latest heating bill was up above $120 for my small, little, decrepid house?
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I wonder what that phrase really means dept.: In another newspaper article, was a picture of Prezzident Bushed talking to a bunch of military people, and evidently, the universal military greeting is the silogism, "Whoo-ah!", and who knows what it means; according to the article, it can mean most anything, but is generally used as a positive rallying exclamation of sorts. And evidently, Bush was greeted with "Whoo-ah!" and he gave 'em a hearty "Whoo-ah!" back. Of course, to me, "Whoo-ah!" has a totally different meaning. It's the sound of me wretching whenever I see a news clip of Prezzident Bushed, when he's having obvious trouble stringing two garbled, laborious sentences together. Watching him makes me reach for the Pepto-Bismol!
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Now I feel really, really old and decrepid dept.: I was always a huge fan of the "Mash" TV Series; many of today's shows can't stay fresh after 2 seasons, but "Mash" survived numerous casting changes, and maintained excellence for years and years, right up to the "final farewell" 2-hour series finale. Well, how about this? Alan "Hawkeye" Alda turned 70 years old today! More power to ya, Alan! Also, Paul McCartney, who wrote "When I'm 64" on 'Sgt. Pepper', will turn 64 in June of this year. Will anyone still need him? Will anyone still feed him? Actually, I'm not too worried about Paul...I hear he's got a few extra bucks stashed away somewhere.
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That's it, that's enough; it's Saturday, and time for me to go out and make rude guitar noises again. I was gonna do that last Saturday, but when I got to the bar, I found out they were having a "Karaoke" party instead. You know life is tough when you can't even play for FREE!