The Classic Albums series (Dez Hall of Fame, v.5)

Some of you may have stumbled upon an episode or two of this amazing documentary series on a BBC-related channel or one of the VH1 channels. The Classic Albums documentary series is put out by the BBC, and it takes an important record from a certain group and analyzes it from all angles. The series does not pick a record without the full participation of the (still living) band members, their producers, studio engineers and managers. While the series does an excellent job covering the significance, influence and historical context of the recording, what really sets this series apart is the unfettered access to the actual creators of the record and the wonderful technical detail in each episode.

There are 32 episodes of the venerable series so far (I own every one of them on DVD, of course). The spectrum of artists covered is impressive, from early rock and soul artists like Elvis Presley and Stevie Wonder, to classic rock vets Cream, The Grateful Dead, The Who and Jimi Hendrix through the Sex Pistols, Nirvana and U2 to pop like Phil Collins and Duran Duran to metal like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden to rapper Jay-Z. Even if you are not a fan of the artist or record covered, the series is so captivating and well done that you still want to watch and learn about the record. The oddest entry I've come across is Simply Red's Stars, hardly a "classic album," but it is actually one of the more interesting episodes due to the candor of the band members. Much depends on the candor and intelligence of the artists involved. While you may not respect Phil Collins' music too much, he is a really bright and witty guy, therefore his episode for Face Value is one of the best of the series as he really breaks down the entire record for you in a thoughtful and interesting way.

As a songwriter and sometimes tinkerer with recording equipment, I love this aspect of the series. A hallmark of the series is the engineer from the original session sitting side by side with the artist(s), and discussing how the songs were recorded and constructed. They are often seated in front of a mixing board, where they will isolate parts of the song and reconstruct the song before your very eyes and ears, all the while discussing decisions that were made and why they were made. I've always been interested in the technical side of making music (one of my greatest memories is spending the full day in a real studio with my musical partner Dave and our producer Kyle recording our album that we made about a decade ago. I loved sitting in the mixing room with the engineer and creating the final mix of the songs. That was more fun for me, actually, than playing the tunes. So much of how a song turns out depends on what is done after the instruments are set aside.)

Another regular part of the series is that the artist(s) will sit down with their instruments and discuss the songwriting and playing of key tracks. For instance, in the Cream Disraeli Gears episode, Eric Clapton plays on his guitar and discusses how he came up with the riff from "Tales of Brave Ulysses," shows the viewer how it is done, then shows how the wah-wah pedal works within the song, and finally candidly admits that he stole the entire riff from The Lovin' Spoonful song "Summer in the City"!


ABOVE: This is a great example of the strengths of the 'Classic Albums' series. Above is an 8-minute clip from the Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols episode, where they break down the creation and impact of "Anarchy in the UK." You have insightful (and often funny) discussion from band members, producers and management. You've got great stories about the writing and recording of the song. The engineer sits down and breaks down the song, part by part, isolating each instrument in turn from the mixing board so you can get a better understanding of the song's construction. And finally there is discussion of their disasterous appearance on British TV with priceless archival footage. Even a seemingly spontaneous shouter like "Anarchy in the UK" actually has quite a bit of structure to it.

I highly recommend any episode in this series. For a list of all episodes, go here. Be careful, there are some pretenders out there. Some other series like the crappy "Classic Albums Under Review" try to piggyback on the success of "Classic Albums," but a sure way to tell whether you are watching the real deal is to look for the logo at the top of this post. It is on all of the DVDs and at the beginning of each episode.

John Cazale (Dez Hall of Fame IV)

In the midst of my Top 50 Movies List, I thought a film-related induction into the Dez Hall of Fame was appropriate. The name John Cazale may not immediately leap out at the average person, but fans of 70's era cinema certainly know who he was. And even casual fans would recognize the face. The sad sap, forlorn face of Fredo Corleone is one of many indelible images from The Godfather series.

Here is a remarkable statistic: EVERY single film that John Cazale appeared in was nominated for Best Picture. Every one of them. Granted, he only appeared in five films before his untimely death from bone cancer (and one posthumously through archival footage), but each of those six films were nominated (and two of them won). If I am not mistaken, that is a unique feat.

Cazale came up through the New York theater scene along with good friend and frequent stage partner Al Pacino. Cazale didn't start small in the movies. His film debut was as the meek Fredo Corleone in The Godfather. Cazale was brilliant at portraying this lamb in a family of lions. He was even better in the sequel Godfather II, where his desire to be respected like younger brother Michael (Pacino) has disasterous consequences.


ABOVE: Michael (Pacino) and Fredo (Cazale) discuss Fredo's betrayal and other family issues in The Godfather II

Cazale also appeared in Coppola's The Conversation alongside Gene Hackman, as well as with Pacino again in Dog Day Afternoon. He died just after he finished filming his scenes for The Deer Hunter alongside fiance Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro. (Cazale finally appeared in archival footage during some scenes for The Godfather III.)

Cazale was never the leading man, but his contributions were always crucial to the fabric of his films. His best characters (Fredo and Sal in Dog Day Afternoon) were men in over their heads and displayed heartbreaking vulnerability at times. As one critic commented, "he was the walking embodiment of the aphorism acting is reacting, providing the perfect counterbalance to his recurring costars, the more emotionally volatile Al Pacino and Robert De Niro." Pacino simply said: "All I wanted to do was to work with John the rest of my life."

There is a documentary about Cazale that came out this year called I Knew It Was You that is supposed to be excellent, although I have not seen it. If you are going to have a relatively short film resume, you can't do much better than John Cazale's.

Snow Cone + Summer = Dez Hall of Fame (pt. III)

All you need is a hot day, some shaved ice and flavored syrup, and you've got paradise. Summer is officially here when you start seeing the Snow Cone stands opening up.



The Snow Cone (or Snowball if you live in New Orleans, or Hawaiian shaved ice, or the "raspa" if you live in South Texas) are all variations on this classic treat. The first Snow Cones date back to before Christ in the days of the Roman Empire, when snow was brought down from the mountains into the cities of the Empire and syrups were added to create what may have been history's first dessert. They became popular in their present form in either Texas or New Orleans, depending on which claim you believe, in the early 1920's.

As many snow cone experts know, much depends on the consistency of the ice. I personally prefer the ice as finely ground or shaved as possible, almost to a snow powder. There are also as many different flavors and flavor combinations as your imagination can handle. Yes, the old standbys of grape, cherry, strawberry and orange are still popular, but I've come across snow cone stands with upwards of 40 flavors to choose from.


ABOVE: The signature feature of Hawaiian shaved ice is the rainbow of flavor mixtures

As a resident of the South Texas region, I have come to know snow cones as the "raspa" ("raspar" is the Spanish verb for "to scrape"). In addition to your usual snow cone flavors, there are also some culturally unique flavor combinations popular in these parts. I am a big fan of the "Leche" flavor, which is sweetened milk with a lot of cinnamon. So good. "Tiger's Blood" is also popular in South Texas, which is usually cherry (but sometimes strawberry) mixed with coconut. Now, some popular raspa flavors that I do not particularly enjoy include "Picocito", which is lemon with chili powder and "Chamoy," which is a more general term for a variety of fruit flavors mixed with a chili sauce.

A last word of advice: when you are given a choice within each flavor, always go blue. I'll give three examples. If you are at a well stocked snow cone stand, they will have two varieties of coconut; "coconut" (a clear syrup) and "blue coconut" (which, as you might imagine, is blue). Also, there is often "pink bubblegum" and "blue bubblegum". Also, you may have the choice between "raspberry" and "blue raspberry" (as I had yesterday). In all cases, the blue variety is the deeper, richer flavor.


ABOVE: Snow cones are delicious

Dez's Hall of Fame, Pt. II: Chess Records

It might seem odd that I pick a record company instead an actual artist for induction into the Dez Hall of Fame, but Chess Records was more than just a record label. It was a sound, it was a spirit, it was the best that Chicago electric blues music had to offer. The recent film Cadillac Records was based on Chess, and while it was an enjoyable film, it failed to accurately convey the real story or importance of Chess. The success of Chess Records was due both to the volcanic talent and creativity of its black roster of artists and the vision (and cutthroat business methods) of its two white, immigrant proprietors, Leonard and Phil Chess.

Some might argue that the success of Chess had more to do with being in the right place at the right time. Certainly, running a blues record label in Chicago between the 1940's and 1960's had certain advantages. The myth of Chicago blues is that the talent was so plentiful that all one had to do was walk down the street for a couple of minutes and you would come across the next Muddy Waters. But why was it Chess that was able to capture the zeitgeist, and not (as much) its many rivals?

Brothers Leonard and Phil Chess immigrated from Poland to Chicago in the late 1920's. Leonard was a nightclub owner by the late 1940's, and he started to see the great untapped potential of the many newly arrived black musicians who had left the South for the big city, and who also needed amplification to be heard in the clubs. A revolution born out of necessity was brewing in the blues clubs of Chicago, and Leonard decided to get in on the action. He and brother Phil bought Aristocrat Records, renamed it Chess Records, and moved away from the jazz and pop that the label had been recording and tried to capture this new raw, electric blues sound.


ABOVE: The shrewd Leonard Chess

Leonard Chess had several potent weapons. First, he understood and had empathy for the black culture of the times. In many ways (if not financially), he viewed his artists as equals. While the prejudice of the times prevented many white run labels from seeing the financial potential in black music, it was said of Leonard that the only color he cared about was green. Secondly, the Chess brothers were cutthroat businessmen who took advantage of their talented but uneducated musicians and also outfoxed other labels in both discovering talent and stealing talent under contract with their rivals. Finally, they had Willie Dixon.


ABOVE: Willie Dixon was a talented blues artist and bassist, but he was also one of the greatest American songwriters of the 20th century. Dixon wrote dozens of blues classics that were farmed out to Chess artists.

What about those Chess artists? Electric blues, and by extention rock and roll, would not be the same without Chess Records. Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Etta James and Sonny Boy Williamson all recorded their most important music with Chess. Other artists such as John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Ramsey Lewis, Little Milton, Otis Rush, The Moonglows, The Flamingos, Elmore James and others also recorded important sides for Chess. I could write lengthy posts about each of these artists, but the fact that they all walked through the doors of Chess is remarkable. Chess made its name in blues, but from the late 50's into the 60's, it moved into rock (with Berry and Diddley, Chess was as important to rock and roll history as it was to blues), soul and jazz.


ABOVE: This is Howlin' Wolf (aka Chester Burnett) singing "Smokestack Lightning." Wolf is my favorite blues singer of all time, check out that freakin' voice! Blues itself. That's Willie Dixon on bass behind Wolf, and famed blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin is also there.


ABOVE: Check out Muddy Waters and his band tearing it up at the Newport Jazz Festival on "Got My Mojo Workin'". How about Muddy's moves at about 5:45? While Muddy could definitely play the down home dirty blues (many of his early Chess sides prove this), he also had great style and sophistication when he wanted to. Nice suit.

Unfortunately, after Leonard's death in 1969, Chess' fortunes fell sharply, and it ceased to exist as a creative entity for new music in the early 70's. But the legacy of Chess's music through countless reissues lives on.

We at GNABB proudly induct Chess Records (including the Chess brothers and the artists of Chess) into the Dez Hall of Fame.

Dez's Hall of Fame, Pt. I

I haven't decided how regular this feature will be, but from time to time I will induct a new inductee into Dez's Hall of Fame. What is the criteria for being inducted into the DHOF? As you will see, DHOF inductees will come from a variety of areas...historical figures, great companies, favorite bands, favorite movies, sports figures. The only criteria is that Dez must have admiration for you.

Dez Hall of Fame Inductee #1: Blue Bell Creameries


ABOVE: Blue Bell Ice Cream's flavor of Homemade Vanilla is the leading single flavor of ice cream sold in the United States.

If you grew up in Texas like I did, then you probably grew up eating Blue Bell ice cream. As a serious ice cream connoisseur, I can unequivocally state that Blue Bell is the best ice cream around.

Blue Bell started in 1907 as The Brenham Creamery Company. Brenham, Texas is a small town not too far outside of Houston that is known for two things: Blue Bell ice cream and dangerous, gun wielding orphans. For most of its history, Blue Bell ice cream was sold exclusively in Texas. The company has been controlled by the Kruse family, first E.F. Kruse and then his sons, Ed and Howard, for almost 100 years. In 1989, Blue Bell started to sell its ice cream in other states, and it currently sells ice cream in 17 states, mostly in the South. Blue Bell accounts for over 50% of all ice cream sold in Texas, and it is the 3rd most popular selling ice cream nationwide, which is quite impressive considering that it is only sold in 17 states whereas its competitors sell their ice creams nationwide. What this means is that wherever Blue Bell is sold, it beats its competition. The key to Blue Bell's success is quality control and consistency. They have their own cows from which they get their milk, and the cream used in making the ice cream is never more than 24 hours old. All aspects of the ice cream making process is performed in Blue Bell's four facilities and is strictly monitored to Blue Bell's high standards.

In 1969, Blue Bell first sold its flavor of Homemade Vanilla, which still stands as the company's foundation. It is hard to explain the greatness of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla. The perfect balance of freshness, texture, sweetness and flavor. There is a small but devoted cult (to which my wife and I proudly belong) that prefers Blue Bell's Natural Vanilla Bean flavor for our vanilla of choice. It has a sharper and bolder vanilla flavor to it, and is less creamy. (French Vanilla is their third basic vanilla flavor).

While the claim is somewhat disputed, Blue Bell is supposedly the first creamery to offer Cookies 'n Cream. In recent years, Blue Bell has greatly expanded their flavor choices with a dizzying array of new flavors. They also have a habit of rotating fun flavors in and out of production. Two more recent summer flavors include Delta Blues (Vanilla mixed with blueberries and pie crust) and Southern Blackberry Cobbler. While all of these flavors may be fun, you just can't beat their basic flavors that have stood the test of time. One of my faves is called The Great Divide, which is a swirl of their Homemade Vanilla and their other standby, Dutch Chocolate. I pity the fools who do not have access to Blue Bell ice cream. George W. Bush was so devoted that he had Blue Bell shipped in to Camp David and The White House during the length of his presidency.

Therefore, we here at GNABB proudly induct Blue Bell Creameries into the Dez Hall of Fame, for consistently living up to their high standards in ice cream making, for creating a Texas business institution, and for living up to their tagline of "The Best Ice Cream in the Country."