(Note: this series was originally published elsewhere.)
Something in music: origin
One evening at a hot, trendy L.A. nightclub on a rare solo outing, yours truly found himself standing alone at the bar preparing to review the upcoming act. Before he had taken more than a few notes, however, he was bookended by a pair of vivacious vixens who insisted on engaging your rockin’ writer in cozy conversation. Strangely, the subject of “marriage” arose.
One of the young ladies noted that when a gal is about to get hitched, she needs “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.” Your provocative penman was immediately inspired. After all, those very same terms could be applied to music too: “Something old” or classic, “something new” or recently released, “something borrowed”, a cover, and “something blue”, a blues song or a song with “blue” in the title. The rest is history.
‘Something’ in Music 341
Something Old
Our “something old” this edition is the classic cut “Mama, I’m Coming Home", a classic rock ballad by English rock star Ozzy Osbourne. The song was co-written by Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde and the late frontman of Motorhead, Lemmy Kilmister. It first appeared on his 1991 disc No More Tears.
Something New
Our “something new” this time is the new song “Electric” by the Seattle, Washington-based act Black Nite Crash. It is their first single and video off their upcoming new disc titled Signal To Noise which drops in February 2024. In a recent email the new video was described as a “psychedelic rock heavily tripped out slab of acid of a shoegaze video!”
Something Borrowed
Our “something borrowed” for this edition is the song “Imagine” written by the late former Beatle musician John Lennon in 1971. This interesting cover version is by Los Angeles, California’s own all-gal mariachi band known as Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea. Founded by Shea in 1999, they released this track on their 2020 disc titled Esta Distancia.
If you are in the L.A. area for the holidays and would like to see the band perform live, you’re in luck! Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea will be performing at the 64th annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration on Sunday, December 24th, 2023 from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. According to a recent email, the event will also include another 22 music acts, “choirs and dance companies representing the county’s many neighborhoods and cultures.”
The event will feature a number of different “diverse L.A.-based artists and performing arts groups who will showcase their talent, artistry and holiday traditions, colorful costumes and global sounds from China, Korea, Japan, India, Mexico, France Ukraine, Bulgaria and more…They “hail from communities across L.A. County: from West L.A. and Culver City to Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, and from the northern reaches of the Antelope and San Fernando Valleys to Downtown L.A., the South Bay and South Los Angeles.”
Specifically, as well as Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea, other returning faves include the “10-piece Latin jazz band Gabrielito y La Verdad; the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles; Jewish culture revival band Mostly Kosher;” the JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble; and Japanese drummers TAIKOPROJECT in a collaboration with the Indian-inspired act known as the Blue13 Dance Company.
There will be additional new acts as well including the Carnegie Gospel Choir; “America’s Got Talent quarter-finalists Divas and Drummers of Compton; the Hiza Yoo Korean Dance Institute; Mexican folklórico company Técnica Arte y Folklore; and Bulgarian dance ensemble XoroTroptzi.”
The program will be broadcast live “on PBS SoCal” and streaming “live on the pbssocal.org website.” After “the live broadcast, the Holiday Celebration will remain available to stream on-demand on pbssocal.org, as well as on the free PBS app. An encore presentation will be broadcast by PBS SoCal on Sunday, Dec. 24 at 6 p.m., and on KCET on Sunday, Dec. 24 at 9 p.m. and Monday, Dec. 25 at 12 p.m.”
Admission is free. No reservations or tickets are needed but seating is “on a first-come, first-seated basis. RSVPs are recommended, but do not guarantee seating. While the doors do not open until 2:30 p.m., the line generally “begins to form around noon.”
Free parking is available in the Music Center parking garage. For more information, visit the official website.
Something Blue
Finally, our “something blue” this edition is the instrumental track written and recorded by the Brit-American acid blues band known as the Bees Deluxe. It’s off the band’s premiere platter A Can of Bees which dropped back in 1979. It features Allyn Dorr on bass guitar, Bruce Mattson on Hammond B3, and Patrick Sanders on drums.
If you’d like to see the band perform live, you’re in luck! They’re now on tour in support of their new album titled Hallucinate right now. See the dates below:
November 25 (Sat) THE TREE HOUSE Charlton MA
December 2 (Sat) STARK BREWERY Manchester NH
December 8 (Fri) LIZZIE ROSE MUSIC ROOM Tuckerton NJ
December 16 (Sat) EXHIBIT 'A' BREWERY Framingham MA
December 20 (Wed) THE BULL RUN Shirley MA
December 22 (Fri) VINCENT'S Worchester MA
January 13 (Sat) BLACK EYED SALLY'S Hartford CT
Did we mention your favorite “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”? If not, let us know. Don’t forget to send us your bride photos too!
(Images courtesy of Linus Augusta, Ed Krieger, and/or original owners)