Music Monday ~ Sadly

We've lost two more genius song-writers/artists. They have left us with so many never-to-be forgotten wonderful songs, several have been featured here in the past, as well as a birthday post in Leonard Cohen's honour last year (see here.) There's an old post about Leon Russell, "Master of Space and Time" HERE. We saw Leon on stage in our town's theatre some years ago, he was an Okie by the way. I thought I'd blogged specifically about that, but so far have not found such a post, just a mention that we did see him perform in town.

Message to the Great Reaper: Enough now!! Go away for a while. Thanks.


This song by Leonard Cohen includes a valuable piece advice I often find myself remembering :

“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”



And this by Leon Russell will always be a favourite of mine:

Supermoon - November 14 - the full moon will appear larger than it has since the 1940s, 14 percent bigger in fact, and 30 percent brighter compared with the smallest full moons. She deserves a song in tribute.

Here's a lesser-known Moon song, it comes from Mike Batt's musical version of Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark:
As Long as the Moon Can Shine, sung by Art Garfunkel.

Algol, Master of Oz, and Master of Space & Time - Oh my!

The Wiz Live! was aired on NBC last week - we watched and enjoyed. Performances, costumes and scenery were excellent - a wonderfully colourful and artistic production of a new adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz, a soul/R&B reinterpretation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The show reminded me that years ago I'd looked at L.Frank Baum's natal chart, read a little about his life and discovered a coincidence with another natal chart I'd been preparing, a coincidence involving Fixed Star Algol.

L. Frank Baum was born 15 May 1856 in Chittengo, New York. Chart (below) is set for 12 noon - no time of birth known.

In 1856 Algol would have been at 24.05 Taurus, conjunct Baum's natal Sun.

From a bio of Baum at Biography.com

Baum's education began with tutors at home in his early years. At the age of 12, he went to the Peekskill Military Academy. Baum left the school after a health crisis two years later, apparently suffering from some type of heart condition. Never earning a high school degree, he spent his early adulthood exploring his interest in acting and writing for the stage.

 L. Frank Baum chart

And here, at Literary Traveler

A rather sickly child who was both timid and shy, he kept to himself and made up imaginary places and playmates since he had to refrain from any kind of strenuous exercise due to his faulty, weak heart. Throughout Frank”s life, his health was a constant impediment, which became a looming presence and a major controlling factor. Although, it never impeded his creativity, drive and talent.

While preparing a 2007 post about Leon Russell, it emerged that he suffered a birth injury, causing a physical disability. Natally he has Saturn conjunct Algol.

Born on 2 April 1942 in Lawton, Oklahoma at, according to Astrodienst 1.22 AM.

 Leon Russell chart

Russell credits his artistic development to a birth injury that damaged his upper vertebrae and left him slightly paralyzed on the right side of his body. “It gave me a very strong sense of duality,” he says. “It gave me an outlook into this plane that we live on and if I hadn’t had that, I’d probably be selling cars in Paris, Texas.” Russell became one of the most sought after session musicians in Los Angeles during the 1960s, working with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Phil Spector and from Glen Campbell to the Byrds.
From PRI.org here

So, it appears that both the Master of Oz and the Master of Space & Time had something in common. Hardly conclusive evidence of Algol's potential, but it does make one pause and think. There are probably other combinations of factors which need to be in place in any astrological chart for Algol's influence to come to the fore. No doubt many people live all their lives in Algol's shadow without as much as a headache.

A Rotten Day for Sagittarius, A Good Night for Leon Russell

Sagittarius, as seen by Jim Critchfield and Jerry Hopkins, authors of "You Were Born On a Rotten Day", first published 1969. It's an early attempt at astrological humour - at times it seems to have been written by naughty schoolboys. Maybe it was. Any passing Sagittarians reading this should bear that in mind. As for me - I love y'all!

A previous chapter featuring this slim volume, and relating to Scorpio, is HERE.

"Sagittarians are represented by the Centaur - half man and half horse. This makes it extremely difficult to decide where to sleep: lying down on a soft bed or standing up in a stall. It also creates problems at most of the better motels.

Naturally enough this half-and-half symbol produces a dual personality problem, both parts equally unpleasant. This constant conflict keeps coming to the surface and prodding people who are impossible to get along with. A Sagittarius even has trouble making friends with a rubber tree. The nicest person born under this sign was Scrooge.

Sagittarius ruled by Jupiter, the planet of expansion, which explains their love of eating. They will eat just about anything, and too much of it. Let's face it Sagittarius, you are a fat person. But you are not without hope. You sit around hoping a lot, wear wishing rings and spend hours throwing pennies into wells.

By the way, your compatible sign is "No Left Turn", your Birthstone is fake, your Lucky Number is missing, and your Lucky Star is having a thing with her agent.

This conflict also brings about another problem - the inability to make decisions. Ninety percent of old maids are Sagittarius-born (the other ten percent are gay)."

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Brief review of last night's Leon Russell concert. (Ref. yesterday's blog entry)

Leon didn't disappoint. He and his band gave us a great rockin' show. Leon appears frail, walks with difficulty, using a cane, but once he starts to sing, his voice is anything but frail. Without any ado or introduction, after the audience's welcoming standing ovation, he ploughed straight into a non-stop medley of some of his best known numbers, then on to some lesser known songs. It was probably 20 to 30 minutes in before he spoke. When he did I warmed to him at once. Instead of the rather strangulated, nasal tone of his singing voice, his speaking voice is deep and warm. In spite of many years living in Los Angeles, he hasn't lost his kindly, comfortable Okie accent.

Leon told us a couple of stories of the days when he was, as he described it "more high profile", and had delighted in the company and friendship of other musical icons. I wish he'd done more of the chat, but naturally, the audience had come to hear the music, so he kept it to a minumum. He told us how he met Bob Dylan, liked him a lot, and they became friends. He said he often used to sing some of his songs, then for a time stopped doing so. In an almost throw-away aside he said, "But now that old GW and his boys are running around, I'd better start singing them again" - and launched into "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"! HeWhoKnows gave a loud whoop as did certain family members several rows behind us. Most of the audience either didn't catch what Leon had said, or chose not to acknowledge it. That one comment endeared him to me! As did his lovely version of "Georgia On My Mind" - one of my favourite songs.

There was no break, instead Leon remained at his keyboard while the band members took turns to leave the stage. The lead guitarist did an excellent solo blues number, and the keyboard player gave a very creditable rendition of a country-style song. Then, Leon, alone on stage but for the other keyboard player, sang his space and time masterpiece, "A Song For You". It wasn't a straight copy of the recorded version - he embellished it and played with it a little - which was good. We can hear the recorded version any time, but I think that a live performance ought always to add a little something to what we already know.

After another standing ovation, the band returned for a heavy rockin' number with sound cranked up. Then Leon told us that this would be the point where, normally, bands leave the stage, we applaud and wait for an encore.

"You'll have to imagine that has happened", Leon advised us, "I don't like walking, and I'm getting too old for all that nonsense". They launched into a medley of old rock songs from the 60s and 70s - once again earning a standing ovation.

It was a good night for Leon.

We were a little too far away to get a good shot of him, but this is one from the camera of HeWhoKnows:

Master of Space and Time

We have a special treat on the agenda this evening - Leon Russell, "The Master of Space and Time", a son of Oklahoma, will perform at our local theater. Son-in-law of He-Who-Knows was instrumental in booking this singer, songwriter, musician and his band to perform here, and the theater is sold out, an achievement in itself in this sleepy town.

Leon Russell has written dozens of songs, both for himself and other performers. "This Masquerade", "Roll Away the Stone", "Delta Lady", "Stranger in a Strange Land" are a few of the best known titles, not forgetting the most famous of all, "A Song for You", from whence comes the famous "space and time" lyric. Oddly it seems that many people think that this is Donnie Hathaway's song - wrong!

Here's an opportunity for a little astrological investigation. I found a couple of on-line reports of interviews with Russell, which throw some light on the kind of person he is. I'll relate some of his comments to his natal chart. (Sources linked at foot of post)



Born April 2, 1942 @ 1.22am in Lawton, Oklahoma.



Interviewer: You've mastered the piano, trumpet, guitar and bass guitar. Most people only play one instrument. Did the guitar, bass guitar and trumpet come easy for you?

Leon Russell: The guitar was difficult for me due to a birth injury that partially paralyzed my right side. It took a year for me to be able to hold a guitar pic.

There is a Yod formation in his natal chart - Saturn sextile Mercury, both planets quincunx Moon, forming an arrow point with the Moon at it's tip. Fixed star Algol (traditionally known as a malignant influence) is conjunct natal Saturn at 25 Taurus. When I first noticed Algol's position I thought to myself, "Aha! Here's an example of Algol not having any ill effects." Then I saw the reference to Russell's birth injury.

"My major concern in high school was containing my neurosis about school not being the proper way to educate, which I found increasingly difficult as I went on. When I first started in school I was a straight-A student, and as I progressed -- my last year in school I failed three courses and just could barely make it to school at all. I gave up school when I had a chance to go on the road with Jerry Lee Lewis."

GRAND TRINE in Air - Moon/Venus/JupiterwithMars - Quick mind, sharp intelligence, clear objectivity - but Sagittarius rising : itchy feet and an unwillingness to be tied down.

"The last time he granted a lengthy interview, Russell mentioned that he enjoyed making people wonder about him, speculate and ponder his actions and motives, and his career suggests that he works overtime at inspiring that wonder...... Along the way, he has remained an enigma, masking himself first as a pompadoured sessionman, then as the mysterious Master of Time and Space, and lately as Country and Western songster, Hank Wilson."

NEPTUNE in Virgo opposing Mercury in Pisces - Communication with mystery and illusion in a push-pull situation. In addition, each planet is in the other planet's ruling sign - Mercury rules Virgo and Neptune rules Pisces - this is what astrolgers call mutual reception. Astrologer Noel Tyl puts it like this:"Mutual Reception in astrology occurs when two planets relate by the fact that each is in the sign ruled by the other; that’s time-share swap. And when the two planets in each other’s domain are ALSO in aspect, the wedding of energies can be magical dramatic." The same aspect has, no doubt, beautifully enabled Leon Russell's songwriting skills.

"I'm not an ecology freak... nor Women's Liberation. I'm almost totally politically inactive. I don't play benefits or any kind of fund-raisers. I prefer to play at hospitals, for people who otherwise can't see us. But I can't see playing for causes, unless it's specifically -- for instance, if it's my cause or some poor people's, I'll try to help. But you won't find me playing for any peace candidates --or any candidates.
Both economics and politics are false sciences. They're based on poor communication.............Capitalism itself in itself is a bit of a rip-off, as far as I'm concerned........"

Sagittarius rising - outspoken and direct. He says he's not politically active, but he oviously has very clear opinions about the subject! (I wonder why he wouldn't play for any peace candidates?)

"He was just weird enough, talented enough and pushy enough to accomplish what he wanted. With disarming ease, he transformed Mad Dogs and Englishmen into a showcase and giant stepping stone for Leon Russell. Still, he remained a mystery, a nonplus in a top hat and Holy Trinity shirt."

"It's easy now to tell that his introduction of the unexpected element has all along been the key to his success, lyrically, musically and personally"

Venus in eccentric Aquarius squared by Aquarius's traditional and modern rulers Saturn &Uranus conjunct in Taurus. Weird and fond of the unexpected? You bet! Pushy? Of course, with Aries Sun sextile Mars and Jupiter conjoined in Gemini.

Sources:
Rolling Stone
Superseventies
Leon Russell Records

Here's the famous "space and time" song -"A Song For You". Leon Russell has said:

"In the case of "A Song For You", I was trying to write a song that both Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra could sing. It's very nice to know that a moment from my past reaches the audience in such a way. When I was writing the song, there was a funny feeling in my chest as I wrote the lines "I acted out my life on stages, with ten thousand people watching". At that time, my largest audience had only been about 80."