JaZzArt en València

Without a doubt, for me The Beach Boys were the ultimate American band! They came in second only to The Beatles, and that is saying a lot because, as you have seen, if you have been following the series, I like many American bands. But these guys, who transformed themselves from the early 60’s boy band singing doo-wop, to tremendous artists, led by the genius of Brian Wilson, always managed to be at the forefront of popular music. Hell, Brian Wilson’s magic (the album Pet Sounds) even influenced Paul McCartney and guided him to create Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…

Okay, a little background. These lads got together in Los Angeles, California in 1961. Led by Brian Wilson, they managed to find a way to mix jazz, doo-wop, and early rock and roll into their unique sound. The original band was formed like this: Brian Wilson (composer, vocals, bass and piano); his brother Carl Wilson (guitars and vocals); other brother Dennis Wilson (drums, vocals); cousin Mike Love (vocals); a friend, Al Jardine (vocals, guitar). A little later another friend of the group, Bruce Johnston joined them playing bass, singing and playing the piano. He substituted Brian Wilson on tour and on live gigs.

In 1966, with their album Pet Sounds and their single «Good Vibrations» they placed themselves as the greatest innovators of rock. Imagine that! More than The Beatles! These lads were phenomenal. But, and there is always a but, as the 1980’s approached there was much infighting in the band, and the band, the only band that ever challenged The Beatles, began to fall apart. Later on there were legal battles, including for the use of the name… but the original Beach Boys, sans Carl and Wilson, whom we lost along the way, got together in 2011 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band. They also edited and produced the 2012 album That’s Why God Made the Radio.

This is their discography:

1962: Surfin’ Safari
1963: Surfin’ USA
1963: Surfer Girl
1963: Little Deuce Coupe
1964: Shut Down Volume 2
1964: All Summer Long
1964: The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album
1965: The Beach Boys Today!
1965: Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!)
1965: Beach Boys’ Party!
1966: Pet Sounds
1967: Smiley Smile
1967: Wild Honey
1968: Friends
1969: 20/20
1970: Sunflower
1971: Surf’s Up
1972: Carl and the Passions – «So Tough»
1973: Holland
1976: 15 Big Ones
1977: Love You
1978: M.I.U. Album
1979: L.A. (Light Album)
1980: Keepin’ the Summer Alive
1985: THE BEACH BOYS
1989: Still Cruisin’
1992: Summer in Paradise
1996: Stars and Stripes Vol. 1
2012: That’s Why God Made the Radio

Now it is time to hear them. I will proffer you one of my favourites among all my favourite Beach Boys songs…

But one is not enough. Let us enjoy some soul by The Beach Boys…

CHEERS

Edwin Starr dijo: «¡Guerra, para qué sirve, absolutamente para nada!». Frase fenomenal para una canción, («War«/Edwin Starr), pero no se ajusta para nada a la realidad. La guerra es, sin duda, la invención más estúpida del hombre, pero es y ha sido una realidad para la humanidad desde la Creación. La guerra provoca sufrimiento, muerte, destrucción, desplaza a las personas, cuesta dinero y, ¿qué logra?

Bueno, algunas guerras son un total y completo sinsentido y hemos visto demasiadas de esas en las últimas décadas. Si tienes que gastar más de una breve oración explicando las razones de una guerra, (como que son para evitar el llamado «efecto dominó»), no tienes una razón válida. Una guerra justa puede y debe ser explicada con una o dos palabras. La Segunda Guerra Mundial fue una guerra para liberar al mundo de la locura de Hitler y los nazis. Fácil de explicar, pero intenta explicar la guerra entre EEUU. e Irak. No es tan fácil…

Ahora hay nuevas guerras en nuestro plano de existencia y uno puede preguntarse con razón «¿cuándo terminará esto?» y sospecho que nunca. Mientras exista la maldad, habrá guerra: Guerras por conquista territorial, guerras para exaltar ideologías, por exterminio racial o afán religioso, por venerar el odio, y todas se ajustan al denominador común, por lucro. Creo que esas son las principales razones de hoy en día y lo defino simplemente diciendo que causan sufrimiento para que otros se forren.

Hay demasiadas armas en este mundo y demasiado ambición de poder. La humanidad no está interesada en el amor, y me pregunto si los hombres alguna vez lo han estado.

Démosle una oportunidad a la paz, como dijo John Lennon…

+++++

Edwin Starr said «War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing!». It was a great line for a song, but not a rather realistic statement. War is the stupidest invention of mankind, for sure, but it is and has been a reality for mankind since Creation. War creates suffering, death, destruction, displaces people, costs money and what does it accomplish?

Well, some wars are total and complete nonsense and we have seen too many of those in the last few decades. If you have to spend more than a brief sentence explaining the reasons for a war, (like a domino effect), you have no valid reason. A rightful war can, and should, be explained with a word or two. WWII was a war to free the world from the madness of Hitler and the Nazis. Easy to explain, but try to explain the war between the US and Iraq? Not too easy…

Now there are new wars, in our plane of existence and one will be quite justified asking «when will it ever end» and I suspect never. As long as there is evil in the world there will be war. Wars for conquest, war to justify political, racial or religious bigotry and hatred, and war for gain. Those seem to be the primary reasons in this day and age. Suffering generated for someone’s gain. There are too many weapons in this world and too much ambition of power. Mankind is not interested in love, and I wonder have men ever been?

Let’s give peace a chance like John Lennon said…

Francisco Bravo Cabrera, Turkey, 2024.

VIEW PORTFOLIO Artist Statement & Bio ABOUT The NO MIDDLEMAN ART GALLERY is designed to connect art seekers and collectors with artists DIRECTLY.  …

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS | Francisco Bravo Cabrera a.k.a. Bodo Vespaciano

UN ADIÓS AL VERANO

Ya han recogido las tumbonas,
ya no hay sombrillas en la playa,
ya no hay toallas con emblemas
del futbol club Barcelona
tiradas en las húmedas arenas.

Ya las sombras son un poco diferente,
y la brisa ya no es cálida,
recordándonos que ya estamos en septiembre,
aunque el sol siga brillando con mil ganas.

El verano trajo cantos y cantores,
trajo miles de turistas a este pueblo,
hartos nos tenían de su bullicios
y ahora nos perdemos en silencios.

En las tabernas, ya vacías, y ahora muy tristes,
todavía se escucha el eco de las risas,
de muchachos animados por el vino,
y de señores, señoritas y marinos.

Despedirse del verano siempre cuesta,
pues nadie sabe si en el próximo estaremos,
brindando con amigos como en este,
disfrutando de este sol y de este cielo.

2024, Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 11 de septiembre de 2024 – Esmirna, Turquía

Es verdad, pero a veces hay que hacer la guerra para procurar una paz perecedera.

Bueno creo que en Arcimboldo se inspiró Octavio Ocampo, el artista mexicano, ¿Te acuerdas? (si no te acuerdas aquí está: Octavio Ocampo)…

Pero Arcimboldo es del Siglo XVI. Nació en Milan en 1527. Giuseppe Arcimboldo tenia una forma muy única de pintar pues formaba los rostros humanos con flores, frutas, plantas, animales y otros objetos. Cuando miras el lienzo todo parece un retrato de alguien, pero si miras bien veras mil y una cosas que lo van formando. ¿Como lo hacia? Con la magia de los artistas, claro está. Esta anamorfosis se le llama pareidolia y era el estilo muy particular de este pintor. Puede que hasta fueran paródicas, no lo se porque no tuve el gusto de conocer al gran Arcimboldo…

+++

Well, I think Octavio Ocampo, the Mexican artist I told you about, was inspired by Arcimboldo, the Italian artist. Do you remember Octavio Ocampo? (if you don’t remember, here is a link: Octavio Ocampo)…

But Arcimboldo is from the 16th century. He was born in Milan in 1527. Giuseppe Arcimboldo had a very unique way of painting. He formed human faces with flowers, fruits, plants, animals, and other objects. When you look at the canvas, it all looks like a portrait of someone. But if you look closely, you will see a thousand and one things forming it. How did he do it? Artists are magicians, did not you know? This form of anamorphosis is called pareidolia and was the very particular style of this painter. It might even have been parodic, but I don’t know because I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting the great Arcimboldo…

GRACIAS – CHEERS

VIEW PORTFOLIO Artist Statement & Bio ABOUT The NO MIDDLEMAN ART GALLERY is designed to connect art seekers and collectors with artists DIRECTLY.  …

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS | Francisco Bravo Cabrera a.k.a. Bodo Vespaciano

On the bridge over blue waters running peacefully,
warriors, priests, princes and kings
are floating in the molecules,
that give life to the water,
that creates the river
and gives movement to reflections.
Fantasy,
Like the smoke from my Gitanes,
gives life to the characters
who represent,
who recite my poetry,
who engage us in the game called history
that never ends,
or that perhaps one day,
when the moon abandons our earthly sky,
it will…

C.2024-Francisco Bravo Cabrera-30 SEP 2024-Izmir, Turkey

Well, tomorrow is the first of October and what does that mean? Well, to many nothing, but in many places it means the total and complete end of summer. In some places things change completely once October arrives. In summer villages and towns, bustling with beachgoers in July, August and although a bit less, also in September, bars, restaurants, and shops will close for autumn and winter. The streets are suddenly empty. One no longer hears the happy cries of children and the conversations of the many adults. The silence is welcomed and appreciated…at first…but I reckon that after a few days things will become quite depressing. But that is the way the world moves in many places…

Summer means sailing the blue waters of the Aegean Sea, happily hopping from Greek island to island and to the Turkish coast which is amazing in this part of the world… All I can say is that «We’ve been having fun all summer long…»

CHEERS

Agradezco un nuevo día…

+++

Grateful for a new day…