The Eagles

They always bring the memories back from a time that as I look back on it now, I really had no "worries" My supervisor or "CO" was responsible for everything. All I had to do was keep my equipment running. ... A time wen we could "Take it to the Limit!" ... And we did.

Eagles Live 2021 "You just can't kill the beat!"

 

Colosseum: The Complete Reunion Concert 1994 - FULL

 

I went through my 20's and started my 30's with the Eagles. They were known in EVERY Liberty port on the Pacific. Every bar, restaurant and whore house played the Eagles. It's amassing, how music can make memories come flooding back.

Listening to this stuff, I remember Mombasa Kenya. We had to anchor out and take a whaleboat in...There was no "port" the boat captain just ran the boat ashore. We had heavy seas coming in so we were all soaked when we made landfall. The taxi drivers saw us coming in and lined up for us. 

After we climbed up from a rocky beach. I was with 4 other guys, we crammed into an old Toyota taxi. The driver didn't know any English so we made an "eating" motion and he shook his head yes. When he stopped, he said "steak" and pointed to the building. We thought GREAT! paid him and went in. I think it was probably water buffalo, you needed a chainsaw to cut it. Well, anyway we ate and got up to settle the bill, we sent one guy outside to flag down a taxi. Just about that time we could hear a radio playing "Hotel California." Kinda appropriate for what came next...A few minutes later our taxi hailer comes running in, said "the taxi driver knows one English word...Whorehouse... Ya want to go?" We learned later that it was a big hotel "downtown" that threw a party for the ship's company. The food was better and the beer flowed. And the Eagles was played.

"You just can't kill the beat!"

 

And where would we be without...

 

Hotel California

 

Or

 

Take It to the Limit (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA, 10/20-22/1976)

 

Or

 

Lyin' Eyes (2013 Remaster)

 

 Or

 

Eagles - Desperado [Live from Melbourne] 

 

And

 

Take It Easy (2018 Remaster)

 

 

 

The Eagles Greatest Hits

 
 

 

Baker Street

What a haunting sax...they don't make music like this anymore. It's funny how you can hear a tune and it can transport you over decades to a place you barely recognize anymore.

Most people remember “Baker Street” for its wailing saxophone, and I was for many years no different. But at some point — a few years after I left the Navy — I
began to pay attention to the song’s lyrics. They go like this:

Winding your way down on Baker Street
Light in your head and dead on your feet
Well, another crazy day
You'll drink the night away
And forget about everything

This city desert makes you feel so cold
It's got so many people, but it's got no soul
And it's taken you so long
To find out you were wrong
When you thought it held everything

You used to think that it was so easy
You used to say that it was so easy
But you're trying, you're trying now

Another year and then you'd be happy
Just one more year and then you'd be happy
But you're crying, you're crying now

Way down the street there's a light in his place
He opens the door, he's got that look on his face
And he asks you where you've been
You tell him who you've seen
And you talk about anything

He's got this dream about buying some land
He's gonna give up the booze and the one-night stands
And then he'll settle down
In some quiet little town
And forget about everything

But you know he'll always keep moving
You know he's never gonna stop moving
'Cause he's rolling, he's the rolling stone
And when you wake up, it's a new morning
The sun is shining, it's a new morning
And you're going, you're going home

The first few lines could have been written to describe me. 

Light in your head and dead on your feet
Well, another crazy day
You'll drink the night away
And forget about everything

That was me, I was drinking my nights away at a tavern across the street from my apartment. I didn't have a "care in the world" because I just didn't care about anything. Just work, drink, sleep, then repeat.

I was in San Diego, where "it was happening" whatever "it" was. But I didn't see it. It wasn't happening to me nor was "it" any part of my life. 

This city desert makes you feel so cold
It's got so many people, but it's got no soul
And it's taken you so long
To find out you were wrong
When you thought it held everything

When I got out of the Navy I landed a really good job, it payed very well and I had medical benefits. I also had a nice place to live. I thought it would be easy to transition into civilian life. It wasn't. I suffered from PTSD and drank myself to sleep every night to keep from having nightmares. ... I kept telling myself it was easy, and in another year, I'll be happy.

You used to think that it was so easy
You used to say that it was so easy
But you're trying, you're trying now

Another year and then you'd be happy
Just one more year and then you'd be happy
But you're crying, you're crying now

The rest could be about my friend Chris. The "place" was Jimmy's Bar and Grill across the street from my apartment, where I spent most of my nights. Chris was the night bartender.

Way down the street there's a light in his place
He opens the door, he's got that look on his face
And he asks you where you've been
You tell him who you've seen
And you talk about anything

He's got this dream about buying some land
He's gonna give up the booze and the one-night stands
And then he'll settle down
In some quiet little town
And forget about everything

  you know he'll always keep moving

You know he's never gonna stop moving
'Cause he's rolling, he's the rolling stone
And when you wake up, it's a new morning
The sun is shining, it's a new morning
And you're going, you're going home

Happily, my life changed one night when an old friend, Walter happened by and we talked ...Well, he talked and I drank for a couple of hours. Walter made sure I got home that night and as he turned to leave he dropped my keys on my chest, shook his head and said "I knew you when you were good." His last line stuck with me. It made me to want to get better and do something with my life.

Sometimes I think back on those days, mostly when I hear a song from that era or see an old picture. It is kind of haunting, difficult to ignore and forget. Not the best time of my life, a time I wish I could forget, a time I wish never happened. I guess that's why the wailing saxophone effects me so much.

 

Gordon Lightfoot

Today we have lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s. Gordon Lightfoot captured our country’s spirit in his music. Music that is destined to continue inspiring future generations, may his legacy live on forever. He was one of my favorites when I was growing up. “Sometimes I think it's a shame When I get feeling better, when I'm feeling no pain."

What was my favorite? "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald;" a cargo ship made famous by one of Gordon’s songs. As a former sailor myself, this is the most haunting song I've ever listened to. "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" These lyrics give me chills every time I hear them; in a few words he fully captured human helplessness and awe of facing nature's immense power. He wrote it to honor all those regular men, who suffered a horrific death while they were just doing their everyday job. Let us all pause to remember and give thanks for the everyday working people, those people we never see or think of who make our own lives easier by their labor and sacrifices. Sailors, soldiers, truckers, longshoremen, farmers, pilots, firefighters, nurses, teachers, veterinarians, caregivers... So many people who are on the fronlines of life yet in the background, working hard, just struggling to survive and take care of their families and others while doing good things in this life. 

To learn more of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and Edmund Fitzgerald

Gordon Lightfoot - "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" - Chicago - 1979

Another one of my Gorden favorites is Sundown. It became a hit while I was in the Navy. I always thought it was about houses of ill repute and what goes on in them. 

I can see her lying back in her satin dress
In a room where you do what you don't confess

 

Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs

 

She's been looking like a queen in a sailor's dream
And she don't always say what she really means

 

Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better, when I'm feeling no pain
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better, when I'm feeling no pain

 

I can picture every move that a man could make
Getting lost in her loving is your first mistake

 

Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning, when I'm losing again

 

I can see her looking fast in her faded jeans
She's a hard-loving woman, got me feeling mean

 

Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better, when I'm feeling no pain

 
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs

 

Sundown, you better take care
If I find you been creeping 'round my back stairs

 
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning, when I'm losing again

 

One of the things I disliked about the Navy was that every port, especially those overseas, were inhabited by folks whose only reason for living was to take a sailor's dollar. It was easy because the sailor was away from home no one knew him; therefore he could get away with doing things he wouldn't do in his home port. 

 

After several months a sea without a break a sailor's thoughts turn to beer and women, not the kind you would find in a Church, more like a queen in a sailor's dream. Those queens are normally found in a room where you do what you don't confess. Even though you know she don't always say what she really means, you know she's a hard-loving woman, that's got you feeling mean. Yet, sometimes you think it's a sin when you feel like you're winning, when you'rs losing again. 

 

It's hard to keep your morals when there's nothing but decadence around you. This is one of the things that civilians don't understand about life at sea. The attitudes, feelings, thoughts and urges a sailor has after many months at sea without a break in the action. I guess that's why there's so much decadence in overseas ports.   

 

  

Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown (Official Audio)

Bob Seger

 

Seger
captures the American Spirit. Open road, free spirited, free loving,
and that rasp in his voice is pure muscle. Much like Mellancamp his
music is the anthem of growing up in America in a time long past

I've grown old listening to music like this, but this music has not gotten
old as the years passed. It has, like me, matured it has gained meaning
in my life and in some cases, changed my perspective concerning certain
events in my life. It is like a fine wine that each time I taste it has
gained new nuances and flavor. These songs will never be obsolete
because they touch a part of me that doesn't change. Seger & his
compatriots bring me peace & remind me of my Navy years, a time
when I had enough courage that nobody would ever break me. As I grow old I find that I need these songs as reminders of a life well-lived, like
a rock.

 

I'm retired now, I admit, sometimes I start feeling down on myself, like
I'm all "washed-up" after a long working life full of things that had to
be done "NOW!" Lots of travel, last minute stuff, planes mostly, here
on Monday, there on Tuesday, somewhere else on Wednesday. I listen to
Bob and understand that tho my life is a bit slower and my memory is
fading, I have nothing to regret and a whole lot to pass on to the next generation.

 

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Roll Me Away

 

 

About halfway through his nearly two-hour Friday night set at Los Angeles' Forum, Bob Seger wheeled out his 1986 hit "Like a Rock" with a preamble: It's been "about 20 years since we've played this," he said. "I hope you remember it." To use one of his own song titles, "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," especially when said song was hammered into our brain repeatedly in a Chevy Truck commercial through the '90s. While some purists may be upset by the convergence of rock 'n' roll and Madison Avenue, even they have to admit that the ad exec who put that association together scored a knockout. Outside of Bruce Springsteen and perhaps John Mellencamp, there isn't another veteran rocker who speaks to the blue collar American everyman better than Seger. 

 

Read more:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/revi...

 

Bob Seger Austin concert 3/7/2019 

 

My Favorites:

 

Like a Rock! 

When you're young and in your 20's, this song means nothing to you. Then one day you wake up and your in your 70's and all of a sudden this song makes sense...

 

Against the Wind!

What a fantastic song. Unfortunately for many of us, we are too old once we understand the meaning. Some of us run against the wind all our lives. ... I'm in my 70's now. Bob played at my Prom (a big Thank You to my "big sister" for talking my parents into letting me go). Amazing to think of that now! Where did the time go?

Night Moves!

 

"She was a black-haired beauty with big dark eyes." - My prom date.

We weren't in love, oh no, far from it
We weren't searchin' for some pie in the sky summit
We were just young and restless and bored
Livin' by the sword
And we'd steal away every chance we could
To the backroom, to the alley or the trusty woods
I used her, she used me
But neither one cared
We were gettin' our share
Workin' on our night moves
Tryin' to lose the awkward teenage blues
Workin' on our night moves
And it was summertime
Sweet summertime summertime...

 

Ain't it funny how the night moves
When you just don't seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing in

 

Bob Seger 2019 Roll Me Away: The Final Tour live at Tacoma Dome, Tacoma Washington 2019-09-21