Last weekend I went to the “New Crocker Art Museum“. The new addition is absolutely astonishing. Wow, to have a world class museum like this in Sacramento is really special. The reason I went Sunday was because it was the last day of the extensive Wayne Thiebold exhibit. Wayne is Sacramento’s most famous artist/painter and I am crazy about his work. His work is known around the world and he is recognized as one of the masters of the pop art world. Actually his work pre-dates pop art. A lot of his subject matter is food: Pies, cakes, ice cream cones. He also does some pretty amazing landscapes, especially of the Sacrametno Delta. The thing about his work is first of all it’s accesible, second, it’s really colorful, and lastly it is full of humour and humanity. This guy is a treasure. He has seen it all. Worked for Disney, for Madison Avenue, went to school and graduated Sac State and UC Davis. Taught at these schools as well. In 1994 he was presented with the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. He still paints all the time. He is 90 years old! When asked “What do you think defines an artist?”..his answer was “An artist creates his own world”. Unfortunatly Wayne Thiebold’s exhibit has moved on, but the Crocker still has several of his works that are there year round. It’s worth checking out some of America’s finest modern art. In fact, the whole Crocker Art Museum experience, regardless of who’s work is on display, is worth the time. A great rainy day activity.

By Andrew Vaughan

Kinks legend Ray Davies will act as artistic director for the 2011 Meltdown Festival in London.

BBC News reports that Davies said he had in mind a “creative celebration through the decades.”

The Meltdown Festival has been running since 1993 and next summer’s will he held from Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 19 at the SouthBank Centre.

Davies said, “I am thrilled to be asked to suggest what I hope will be a diverse program, particularly as it marks the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain.”

Davies’ new album, See My Friends, sees him collaborating with several artists including Bruce Springsteen and Metallica.

By Andrew Vaughan

John Lennon’s widow,Yoko Ono has chosen her 10 all-time favorite John Lennon songs forRolling Stone magazine’s playlist feature. Her first-place selection is 1971’s “Oh My Love,” about which she says: “It’s not so much about sexual interest or ‘I miss you’ – it’s more to do with true love.”

Yoko’s Top 10 Lennon songs:

1. “Oh My Love”
2. “Gimme Some Truth”
3. “Give Peace a Chance”
4. “God”
5. “Grow Old with Me””
6. “Imagine”
7. “Scared”
8. “Jealous Guy”
9. “I Don’t Wanna be a Soldier”
10. “Mother”

By Chuck Crisafulli

U2 fans who have the chance to see the band perform during its upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand will have the opportunity to hear something that very few fans have heard before. The band rehearsed intensively for the dates at the Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, and, according to the fan site u2gigs.com, the band have added to their standard concert repertoire a couple of rarely performed tunes, “Scarlet” and “One Tree Hill.”

The gospel-tinged “Scarlet” is from the band’s early album October, and has only previously been performed live at a 1981 BBC taping. In Auckland, opener Jay-Z joined the band for a guest rap during “Scarlet,” and he also showed up to help U2 with “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” “One Tree Hill,” fromJoshua Tree, is also a rare addition to the band’s live set, though its inclusion on this tour is not as surprising when one considers that it was written about Greg Carroll, a New Zealand native and friend of Bono’s who died in a motorcycle accident in 1986.

The band have also been preparing a concert version of “Boys Fall from the Sky,” one of the songs that Bono and The Edge created for their score to the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which opened in New York this week.

Special thanks to ThisDayinMusic.com.

Born on this day:

1945, Roger Glover, bass, Deep Purple, Rainbow
1955, Billy Idol, singer, Generation X, solo
1968, Des’ree, singer, songwriter
1978, Clay Aiken, singer

1969, The Monkees made what would be their last live appearance for 15 years when they played at the Oakland Coliseum, California.

1969, The Rolling Stones played the final night on a 17-date North American tour at the First Annual West Palm Beach International Music and Arts Festival, West Palm Beach, Florida. (For more on this story, see the This Day in Music Spotlight.)

1971, Sly and The Family Stone were at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Family Affair.”

1985, Wham! were at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “I’m Your Man,” the duo’s third U.K. #1 and a #3 hit in the U.S.

1991, Milli Vanilli singer Rob Pilatus attempted suicide while staying at The Mondrian Hotel, Los Angeles by taking an overdose of sleeping pills and slashing his wrists.

1994, Tupac Shakur was shot five times during a robbery outside a New York City recording studio.

1996, Ice Cube obtained a restraining order to keep an obsessed fan away from him and his family. Cynthia Renee Collins was told to stop harassing the 26-year-old rapper, and stay at least 100 feet away from him.

1997, Chumbawamba’s Danbert Nobacon was arrested by Italian police for wearing a skirt and was detained by police overnight.

1999, Don “Sugarcane” Harris was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment at the age of 61. The American guitarist and violinist was part of the ’50s duo Don and Dewey. He also worked with Little Richard, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, John Lee Hooker and Johnny Otis.

2002, High Court probate records showed that George Harrison left his fortune of £99m in a trust to his wife Oliva and his son Dhani, depriving the taxman of £40m. His English mansion near Henley-on-Thames was said to be worth £15m.

2003, a block of East 2nd Street in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. It is the block where Joey once lived with bandmate Dee Dee Ramone, and is near the site of CBGB, where The Ramones played their first gigs.

2006, Syd Barrett’s final belongings were sold by Cheffins auctioneers in Cambridge, England. The sale of the 77 items raised £119,890. Ten paintings alone raised over £55,000 and two bicycles over £10,000. The sale included such things as the armchair he used to sit in, his homemade bread bin, tools, notebooks, binders and books. The sale catalogue described Barrett — who quit Pink Floyd in 1968 — as a man with a “total disinterest in materialism.”

Gals – usually, purchasing a push-up bras implies you’re looking to give your boobs a lift, but retail analysts say you may be giving the economy a boost too. Retail analysts are noticing a nice bump in sales of luxury goods like Victoria’s Secret Bras, as opposed to last year’s hot sellers like diapers, coffee makers and winter coats. A shift back to “want it” gear and away from “need it” gear is a good sign that the economy is ramping up again. Specifically, they note that since the pricey “Miraculous” bras at Victoria’s Secret are flying off the shelves, shoppers are once again willing to splurge and buy more items for themselves than in the past two holiday seasons. The bras, which launched last year, range from $49.50 to $250.

The album that John Lennon autographed for Mark David Chapman just hours before Chapman shot him 5 times is up for sale. It is expected to go for around $850,000. You know, I’m glad we live in a free country when a person is allowed to make a profit, I’m glad we can sell and own property. Then why does this news item make me feel sick to my stomach? It could be because it is so close to Christmas, and the sale seems so cold blooded and impersonal. It could be because we are so close the 30th anniversary of the murder. But it isn’t. I feel icky about this because John Lennon stood for something; honesty in art and music, non-violence, and being accepting of people who are different from yourself. And when he was shot down without mercy our belief in those things was also wounded. The bullets that cut down John Lennon hurt each one of us. And it feels a little like profit is being made from that.

-Jobe

This week marks the anniversary of one of the more bizarre manifestations of the 60s..”.The Generation Gap”. A rather handy shorthand for the ever widening canyon between the hip kids and their confused parents. With so much of the “Woodstock Generation” steadily finding new ways to live and new values to embrace, the Government of course started to freak out. On December 4th 1969, President Nixon, Vice president Agnew and 40 US governors began a fact finding mission to discover the causes of the generation gap. They view films of simulated acid trips and listen to hours of anti-establishment rock music. Their findings were, Well, as Dylan said “Something is happening here and you don’t know what it is, do you Mr. Jones”?..Listen below to Agnew’s conclusion of what he learned from this experience. Musically we start at 7pm with a musical trip around the world from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Simon and Garfunkle will give the weather report, we will get soulful with Otis and Sam and Dave. Wow, it just keeps rocking with Canned Heat, Vanilla Fudge, and Jimi Hendrix. Another anniversary this week is the great Kieth Richards electrocution. It happened here in Sacramento, at the Memorial Auditorium in 1965. It took a while for the smoke to clear. Were you there? Another Memorial Auditorium moment is highlighted this Saturday. The Beach Boys concert album becomes their first to top the charts on this day in 1964..recorded at the Memorial. Birthdays this week include the late Beach Boys Drummer Dennis Wilson, Byrds guitarist Chris Hillman, Bob Mosley from Moby Grape, Ozzy Osbourne and Jim Messina. Be sure to tune in at 7 sharp, don’t miss a lick. It will be festive. Peace Out

69 Spiro Agnew generation gap (more…)

Chirpy is a sweet 2 yr old terrier mix whose holiday wish is to find a forever home. She enjoys attention, and already has good leash manners. Chirpy should be the only pet in her new forever home, with kids 12+. Find out more about Chirpy at www.placerspca.org.

By Michael Wright

Last month, Apple Corps and EMI reissued several key non-Beatles albums from the Apple catalogue. Among them were four albums by the band Badfinger. The group formerly known as The Iveys racked up several hits in the early ’70s, including “Come and Get It,” “No Matter What,” “Day after Day” and “Baby Blue,” before breaking up due to management problems in 1975. Joey Molland joined the band just as they were about to drop the Iveys moniker and relaunch their career on Apple. Molland, the only surviving member from the classic early ’70s lineup, spoke recently to MusicRadar.com about those heady days rubbing shoulders and trading licks with the Fab Four.

According to Molland, when the band first joined the Apple roster, they weren’t necessarily thrust into boardrooms with Lennon, McCartney and company:

“No, no, we didn’t have meetings or anything,” said Molland. “I never met Paul McCartney. I might have seen Ringo a time or two. I definitely saw John walking around the office, but I didn’t have the nerve to speak to him. [laughs] George was the most social and approachable of The Beatles, by far. He’d come up to us and congratulate us on what was happening. And then later, of course, he asked us to play on his All Things Must Pass album. But as far as dealing with The Beatles, that didn’t happen. We dealt with [Apple exec and former Beatles road manager] Neil Aspinall and [Apple press officer] Derek Taylor and other people in the organization.”

Harrison, in fact, produced half of the band’s 1971 album, Straight Up — an experience Molland described as “Brilliant!”

“He was a lovely man,” Molland recalled. “In many ways, he’d kind of join the band when he worked with you. He’d bring in his guitar and his Champ amplifier, and we’d knock songs around together. He was very pleasant, but he’d get very involved; he took things very seriously. He rearranged some of the songs, making them completely different from the way the band had been playing them at first.”

During this same period, members of the band also contributed to John Lennon’s Imagine album. When asked if working with two former Beatles simultaneously was ever an issue, Molland responded, “No, they were all fine with one another. At the time I joined up with Badfinger, The Beatles had pretty much broken up anyway. They were just waiting for business politics to get squared away so they could make the big announcement. But as people, they were OK towards each other. If you saw George in the studio, you’d see Ringo, too. And George worked on the Imagine album, as well. Plus, I think it was George who told John, ‘Hey, if you need some guitar players on Imagine, use the Badfinger guys.’ We were thrilled to bits when we got called to play with John. A car got sent around to pick us up, and lo and behold, there we were at Johnny Lennon’s house!” [laughs]

On working with Lennon, Molland continued, “It was great! He was just a plain-talking, regular guy. No b.s. at all. Now, of course, he was John Lennon, so he had that energy about him; he kind of lit up the room, you know? But he welcomed us, said he was thrilled to have us, and then he said, ‘The first song we’re going to do is something called ‘Jealous Guy.’’ It was pretty amazing, sitting there with your headphones on, hearing John Lennon singing this fantastic song. Totally remarkable.”