only a dream
Philip Mayer
I had a dream the other night I wanted to share with y'all.
I was watching a film documentary on TV about a rock festival that took
place around '68 or '69. It appeared to be a cross between Altamont
(just an aside - when you really think about it, even though the Kinks
were not at Altamont in body, they were certainly there in spirit) and
the Rolling Sone's Rock and Roll Circus, except instead of the Stones
there was the Kinks, although they were not the headline act. The
headliners were either the Who or Jimi Hendrix. I was watching because I
wanted to see an early Kinks performance (having been born in the summer
of 'Sunny Afternoon,' I was denied this in life), and also because I was
aware that during this particular performance, the Kink's bass guitarist
was shot onstage. This was a dream, after all. Somehow, in my mixed up,
muddled up subconscious, I must have gotten Pete Quaife's departure from
the band confused with his untimely demise, nevermind the fact that he
continues to live happily-ever-after somewhere in Canada. But the really
weird thing was, when they finally hit the stage, their bassist was
neither Pete nor John Dalton, but some black guy I had never seen before
(hence the connection to Altamont).
I watched some other no-name act perform prior to the Kinks, and they
seemed to be adequate musicians. When the Kinks finally appeared and
started playing, they were pretty sloppy. Worse still, they didn't seem
to be interested in playing any of their own songs, opting to cover
other, less deserving, material. Ray was completely invisible onstage,
although I think he was singing lead vocal on all of the songs. Perhaps
it was because I was focusing all of my attention on Dave. At one point,
I was transported to the stage and was standing right behind Dave
watching him play. And I gotta say, it wasn't a pretty sight. He was
missing notes right and left, and could not manage his instrument with
much authority. I remember thinking, 'I guess all the rumor's I heard
were true, that Dave wasn't much of a guitarist' (which, of course, we
all know is not true).
So the Kinks continued to stumble thusly for one or two songs, and then
it happened. The TV camera's seemed to catch the gunshot pretty well, or
maybe it was one of those 'America's Most Wanted' recreations. The band
was tuning up for the next song and apparently was not aware that their
bassist, who initially remained on his feet, had been shot. It was not
until he collapsed onto the stage before folks started to realize that
something was amiss. Pandemonium erupted, but strangely, after the
gunned down musician was carried off on a stretcher (my recollection was
that he wasn't actually killed), the show continued as if nothing had
happened. The show must go on, after all. All the Kinks needed was a
volunteer from the audience to fill in for their bassist. As it turns
out, a rather large, husky woman (Lola, perhaps?) climbed from the
meelee below, picked up the bass guitar, and offered her services to the
band. They all shrugged and continued with the next song.
Again, they chose to perform someone else's material. At least this time
it was a song, originally performed by Bonnie and Delaney I think, I had
heard before. Surprisingly, not only did the fill in bassist know the
song, she was actually pretty good. So good, in fact, that in the middle
of the first verse, when she effectively tackled the job of back-up
vocalist as well, Dave stopped playing and shouted from across the
stage, "Damn, you're good!" Dave's abrupt proclammation caused the rest
of the band to lose their focus, the the song quickly came grinding to a
halt, at which point Ray suddenly appeared next to Dave as if from thin
air and proceeded to scream at the younger Davies for screwing up the
song. That's when the dream finally began to mirror reality, and after
Ray and Dave started throwing punches, the promoter had the whole band
kicked off stage.
I'm not much of a dream analyst, but my only take on this is that I need
to find a few more hobbies.
mike weber
>I had a dream the other night I wanted to share with y'all.
>
>I was watching a film documentary on TV about a rock festival that took
>place around '68 or '69.
<snip dream sequence>
>That's when the dream finally began to mirror reality, and after
>Ray and Dave started throwing punches, the promoter had the whole band
>kicked off stage.
>
>I'm not much of a dream analyst, but my only take on this is that I need
>to find a few more hobbies.
I _think_ you've got it. <grin>
--------------------------------------------------
<<mike weber>> <<emsh...@aol.com>>
History doesn't always repeat itself -- sometimes it just screams
"Why don't you listen to what I'm telling you?!?" and lets fly with
a club. <<JWCjr>>
NicePace
>I'm not much of a dream analyst, but my only take on this is that I need
>to find a few more hobbies.
I don't see why ... dreaming about The Kinks is perfectly normal. I dream
about them once in a while. But I've never had a murder on stage in any of my
dreams. (My worst Kinks-related dream is the time I dreamed I was going to see
Dave and Paul Simon was on stage instead.) Maybe you could use this as
inspiration for a mystery novel? "The Guitar Murders" or something?
Joanne
Will Dockery
> I had a dream the other night I wanted to share with y'all.
>
> I was watching a film documentary on TV about a rock festival that took
> kicked off stage.
>
> to find a few more hobbies.