Carved In Stone
Carved in stone is a name I will remember
Skin and bone and a heart that was so tender
Carry on and have yourself a lovely ride
Think of me when you finally reach the other side
Carved in stone is a date he had to go on
And another from the moment of his first dawn
Now alone is someone who can’t surrender
To the darkness and sadness this life has sent her
Carry on and have yourself a lovely ride
Think of me when you finally reach the other side
Hold on tight to the things you always taught us
Speak out loud about faith, hope, love and trust
Carry on and have yourself a lovely ride
Think of me when you finally reach the other side
Carry on and have yourself a lovely ride
Think of me when you finally reach the other side
Carved in stone is a name I will remember
-“Carved in Stone,” The Subdudes
Franchon & Marco., company payroll, Los Angeles, 1920s
“1,214 chorus girls, 4 blackface comedians, 13
dogs, 15 contortionists, 6 pantomime comics,
85 specialty dancers, 3 xylophonists, 5 dog
trainers, 3 whistlers, 14 marionettes, 15 nut
comics, 1 Jewish comedian, 1 monkey, 12
unicycle riders, 2 mind readers, 1 dare-devil
bicycle rider, 57 assorted acrobats, 4 grizzly
bears, 2 roping acts, 3 elephants, 2 horses, 35
straight comedians, 5 eccentric dancers, 6
accordionists, 4 fire walkers, 3 iron-jaw experts,
1 ventriloquist, 2 violin soloists, 4 drunk
dancers, 1 magician, 12 ballet dancers, 13
punching-bag artists, 11 masters of ceremonies
and monologists, 3 crazy musicians, 7
impersonators, 3 jugglers, 3 Dutch comics, 44
adagio dancers, 11 acrobatic dancers, 110
singers, 10 harmonica players, 4 one-legged
dancers, 2 comedy jugglers, 2 Negro singers,
33 knockabout comedians, 1 piano soloist.”
(from Phil Wagner, “An America Not Quite Mechanized,” Film History, 2011)
The Ballad of Music Man Murray
A 2007 story I did for Los Angeles magazine on record collector, cantor, opera singer, character actor, and “big shot,” Murray Gershenz.
The Idelsohn Society Goes To Poland
Latest writings for The American Prospect
From necro to nightsticks to nostalgia
Always and Forever
Art Laboe, Big Jay McNeely, & Little Willie G take the stage for “Rock, Race, & Radio”
Trouble in Paradise: Music & Los Angeles, 1945-1975. Grammy Museum. Pacific Standard Time.
Ruth Stone, “Accepting (In the Dark)”
Half-blind, it is always twilight. The dusk of my time and the nights are so long, and the days of my tribe flash by, their many-colored cars choking the air, and I lie like a shah on my divan in this 21st century mosque, indifferent to my folded flesh that falls in on itself, almost inert, remembering crossing the fields, turning corners, coming home to the lighted windows, the pedestrian years of it, accepting from each hand the gifts, without knowing why they were given or what to make of them.
