The Oppenheimer Report 1/27/20

Yesterday afternoon, Shauna and I had the pleasure of attending a small house concert at the home of Grant and Debbie Nickalls. On the bill  were their son, Jack Nickalls, and his musical partner Josie Robinson. "Jack & Josie" performed two house concerts last weekend in order to raise funds to defray travel expenses associated with their upcoming trip out to Alberta. Their high school band has made it to the final round of North America's largest educational music festival, MusicFest Canada. The finals competition will soon be taking place in Calgary. Vicariously, I’m excited for them, and hope they do well in the competition. Regardless, they and the band will be touring amid some of the most beautiful parts of Canada. I spoke with Josie a bit during the intermission to Saturday’s concert, and she was clearly excited about the opportunity to see the Canadian Rockies. Among other destinations, the trip includes visits to Banff, and Whistler, B.C. .  

Apart from the obvious talent of these two young performers, the thing I most appreciated about the above-mentioned concert is that Jack and Josie chose an eclectic mix of good songs to cover.  I was impressed by their song choices, and by their unique interpretations of those works. That they chose to cover songs like the Burt Bacharach/Hal David hit “I Say A Little Prayer For You” covered by Dionne Warwick, the Harry Warren/Mack Gordon classic “At Last” made famous by Etta James, and a wonderful interpretation of the old Ashford & Simpson classic “I Don’t Need No Doctor”, along with with several songs by contemporary alt country Canadian talent Colter Wall, and the oft-covered hit “Valerie” written by the talented British songwriter Amy Winehouse, shows a respect for and appreciation of many different kinds of songwriting. For me it was refreshing to see teenagers with such open musical minds.

I’ve seen Jack and Josie perform onstage before, most notably as openers for the William Prince concert last summer at Huntsville’s newly opened Canvas Brewery. I’ve also had the opportunity to watch Jack develop as a musician over the past several years. His growth, both technically and in his stage presence, has been fun to watch. Last summer, he performed his first original song during a live radio performance for Hunters Bay Radio; I was gob smacked. The song was really good, and I’m not surprised that “Stay Forever” was voted one of the top 5 local songs of the year in Hunters Bay Radio’s local Song of The Year Top 20 Countdown. I guess I was a bit jealous; the first song I ever penned was abysmal.

Several years ago, around the time Jack began to share his talent with a wider local audience, I guest-hosted a TALENT ON THE BAY show wherein Jack was the interviewee. During the interview, which was one of my first opportunities to hear Jack perform, we discussed the value of musical education. I think most music lovers in this community will agree that the Huntsville High School has spawned some remarkable young talent. I tip my hat and offer my thanks to all the enlightened local educators who made that happen. There are so many reasons why this is important. Forgive me, I know I sound like a broken record when I say this, but I see music as one of the few universal languages which everyone can understand, if they just listen. I am always better for having listened, be it to constructive criticism, Mother Nature, a cry for help, to my breathing, or, as I suggest here, to music. Believe me, I know it’s not so easy, and I would do well to take my own advice. As I become palpably more attention-challenged, I find myself struggling to just shut up and listen. It all goes by so quickly. At what I consider to be a tipping point in humanity, wherein I deem communication to be on injured reserve, music (all art really) might be one of the few life rings remaining for us to throw out. It is the selfless expression of creativity that embodies all that is good about us human beings, the thing that can bring us all together.

Shauna’s 95-year-old mom “E.T.” asks me all the time “do you think the music I present on MARTINI MUSIC is reaching anyone; do you think any younger people appreciate this music”.  I think the answer is “yes”, and Jack and Josie’s performance last Saturday night was proof of that. As long as good music is created and performed, it will be timeless, and there will be a receptive audience. Be it an aria from Pagliacci  or the Rolling Stones song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash, music draws us together on some visceral, fundamental level. Whatever it is that puts us all on the same wavelength was alive and well last Saturday night. Everyone at that house concert left happier than when they came. I think that is a good thing, and it is why Shauna and I spend so much of our free time promoting good music.

To Jack and Josie, and to all their bandmates from Huntsville, best of luck in Calgary. In my book, you’ve already won.

ARCHIVED The Oppenheimer Report - March 18, 1992

Tragic news in the Daily Mail … Fergie and Prince Andrew will separate. Stand in line girls “Randy Andy” is back! But he cautions: “No more bloody plebes!” And in a related story Tammy Faye Bakker tearfully announced plans to divorce her humpin’ hubby Jim. Sobbing cheap, mascara-saturated tears Mrs. Bakker confided: “I can’t share him with another man … loosely translated, “You can take the T.V. ministry business and shove it … I know where he stashed the loot!” Jim Bakker, recently spotted walking like Walter Brennan in “The Real McCoys” could not be reached for comment. Leona Helmsley, hospitalized after she learned that she will spend the next four years behind bars for tax fraud, tearfully pleaded with the judge: Who will change Harry’s “Depends”??? Nice try Queenie,  he’s IRS lunchmeat too!

p.2  On the Hollywood homefront: Richard Gere makes an especially generous gift to the SPCA with the proviso that the monies be target for small, abused rodents, Geraldo R. affectionately referred to by friends and enemies alike as “Butthead” has had yet another slab of his rear end cut off and implanted on his face, and what’s-her-face who plays what’s-her-face on “Murder That Bitch” was fined for impersonating an aspirin expert. Controversial and allegedly deceased rock star Jim Morrison was spotted in a Winn Dixie in Coral Gables, Florida buying sprouts, tofu, and mineral water. Take that Oliver Stone. Zsa Zsa Gabor is back in the news after reports she kicked, beat, and generally abused an L.A. policeman last week. A spokesperson for the LAPD had this to say: “Well, she won’t get off so easy THIS time … this time we got her on videotape!” And finally, a bitter fight is breaking out over Flipper’s estate, valued at between $20Million and $30 Million. Never legally divorced from his first with, Flipper was apparently married four times. Trial is set for June in People’s Court. Show biz can be so ugly. This is Hyman, good day!

The Oppenheimer Report 1/20/20

The other day, I noticed that one of my songwriter friends, and in my opinion, one of Canada’s better musician/songwriters, Noah Zacharin, was attending the 11th annual 30A Songwriters Festival held in South Walton County, Florida. I’d never heard of this festival before, but it is yet another reminder of how little I do know about the vast community of songwriters out there. This festival is a huge, three-day event, with headliners like Brian Wilson, John Prine, Tonya Tucker, and Don McLean, as well as hundreds of other performers playing at a myriad of local venues. For years it’s always been my dream to attend one of these big songwriter festivals, and to take in the live performances by some of the best songwriters in the world.  

Coincidentally, yesterday I learned that David Olney, a Nashville songwriter whom I began to follow and admire several years ago, passed away suddenly during his performance at one of the venues in that 30A Songwriters festival. Dave was in the middle of a songwriter’s round with 2 other writers, he stopped singing during his 3^rd song, apologized to his audience, then closed his eyes and quietly died of an apparent heart attack. Amy Rigby, who was one of the other writers onstage with him when he passed, said his end was very peaceful. From most accounts, Olney was a humble, wise, and generous ambassador for the craft of songwriting. His loss, especially in the Nashville music community wherein he lived, is seismic.

Back in 2005, about 13 years after I began to write this weekly report, I started posting it in blog form. On the blog site, I wrote a brief bio and in it spoke of my aspiration to be a recognized songwriter. I said that, while I felt there were a lot of great contemporary songwriters, much of the best current songwriting is being eclipsed by pop music mediocrity. I also said that my songwriting was something for which I aspire to be remembered.

I’ve been many things in my 64 years. I’ve enjoyed creative writing since I was a young teen, I’ve been a boater since I was old enough to swim, I love all watersports,  I used to be an avid snow skier,  a photographer who spent a good deal of my teens in a darkroom. I enjoy hiking, observing wildlife, collecting old postcards, attending live concerts, people-watching, reading, cooking, really bad reality television shows, and a dozen other things which are likely of little interest to anyone else. I believe songwriting is the best tool I have to express myself. It is the skill I have consistently developed for over 4 decades, and the one thing I for which I hope I will be remembered when I am gone. The field of good songwriters is vast and ever-expanding, so that aspiration may be wildly optimistic. Each week, I find it humbling to discover yet another songwriter who impresses me. I am always shocked to note that the most talented and prolific among them are typically doomed to obscurity. I suppose it’s like that with most art, and often true genius goes under-recognized for a long time. In a letter Shauna and I received from Jon Brooks around the holidays, he said (and I paraphrase) that he continues to search for the perfect love song to write, the one which will unite mankind in a peaceful harmony. The great songwriters do this; they strike a universal chord that resonates among us all. While Jon may also hope to realize the elusive dream of wider recognition, he has already succeeded well beyond my most hopeful aspirations in songwriting. Someone made a comment recently under one of my reports, wherein I discussed songwriting, and she referred to songwriters as the prophets of our society. I think all good art reflects our world, and I have profound respect for the artists and storytellers who do that effectively.

The longer I live, the less impressed I am by the things that I once aspired to achieve: money, fame, and a stadium full of adoring fans. These days, I’d be content to figure out a way of teaching love and acceptance. Unfortunately, I’m still very much the student myself. I want to connect with people in some positive ways. My dream, for well over 40 years now, is to write at least one really good song, one that will be meaningful decades after I am gone. David Olney wrote dozens of those songs. The late, great  American songwriter, Townes Van Zandt, once said of David Olney: “Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard – and that’s true. I mean that from my heart.”   

R.I.P. David Olney. Thank you for your selfless contribution to the craft of songwriting, you’ve left big shoes to fill.

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2020  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Oppenheimer Report 1/6/20

I don’t what is in the air, but a few mornings ago, I woke up in a positive frame of mind for the first time in a long time. Almost every morning during 2019 I woke up with a stomachache, plagued by a dozen unresolvable worries. The other day, I felt none of that. It certainly wasn’t because of the good news on television. I came home from my “Lyrical Workers” show last Thursday night to the news that Rump had just ordered a targeted bombing attack in Baghdad which killed a high-ranking Iranian military leader. I know nothing about foreign policy, but it sure seems like that attack with stir up a hornet’s nest in a rogue nation so widely deemed to be sponsoring terrorism around the world. It also seems to me that this might have been a horribly irresponsible public relations move to distract the attention of the American public from the impeachment hearings soon to begin in Washington. Wildfires are burning out of control all over the continent of Australia with no relief in sight, and there were horrendous floods in Indonesia. Politicians continue to ignore the ravaging effects of climate change, and if I take the time to think about it, my conclusion is that the sky is falling. 

I had the most unusual dream on that morning I woke up peaceful and unworried. I rarely remember my dreams, but I wrote that one down immediately upon awakening, because it was so obviously hopeful. In my dream I was in one of those impersonal, big box appliance stores, and out of nowhere, someone began to sing a gospel song. I can’t remember the song, but suddenly the entire store full of people began to sing along. It wasn’t a dream about religion, and I am reminded of that Lennon song “Imagine” which is played so often around the holidays.  In my dream everyone took turns singing and it was beautiful, and it bespoke unity and the promise of hope.  

As a songwriter, I’ve been in a dry spell for several years. I’ve written a few new songs but have been devoting most of my songwriting energy to the resurrection and rewriting old, half-finished songs. I rarely throw anything away. It’s strange to revisit verse one wrote as a younger man. I used to think that those songs should have a temporal stamp and are representative of the time in which they were written. For this reason, I have not rewritten many of my older, more imperfect songs, because they indicate the person I was at a given point in time. Everything is changing.

It doesn’t take a history buff to see the direction the world is heading. Leaders aren’t leading, societies are fractured and tribal, role models, at least the ones who make the front page, are anything but, and the preponderance of shoot-first-ask-questions-later social media-fueled disinformation is rotting the very fabric of the human tapestry. I can blame the news media, or religion, or video games, or wireless communication, or cell phones, or anxiety over climate change, but it really seems like we’re reaching the tipping point. When an angry schoolgirl from Sweden is our best hope as the voice of reason, we’re really screwed. Seriously, no wonder our children are pissed.

About a year ago I started a series of songs written in an unusual drop G guitar tuning I rarely use. I wrote the songs  “Better” “New Constitution”, and a love song about Shauna entitled “These Are The Things I Crave”. After my recent, hopeful dream I sat down with the guitar and came up with the music for another 4-5 songs along a similar theme. Perhaps I will have enough songs for an album about love and peace.  I don’t know who if anyone will listen to the songs I write, but I believe art reflects reality, and I have the opportunity to affect the reality I see. Love is hard; I’m still figuring it out. From my experience, it does have a trickle-down effect. The next time you have an opportunity to say something negative to or about someone, imagine one hundred strangers in a Home Depot, singing “Oh Happy Day.” Maybe instead you’ll find some positive or constructive to say.

 Written by Jamie Oppenheimer ©2020
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
jamieoppenheimersongwriter@gmail.com

Jamie Oppenheimer, Songwriter, Author, Blogger, Radio Producer, & Host has been writing THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT every MONDAY since 1992 and has published the articles on his blog since 2006. We are including Jamie's weekly reports, as a feature of #HuntersBayRadio, The Bay 88.7FM.

HuntersBayRadio.com #MusicYouNeedToHear #EveryOneHasAStory #GotLocal? #WeAreMuskoka #WeAreAlmaguin #TheOppenheimerReport #JamieOppenheimer

The Oppenheimer Report 1/13/20

As I try to do every weekday morning, shortly after 10am last Friday, I was listening to Tech 5, a show hosted by my friend Ben Harrison. Ben was talking about the first full moon of January, which I have learned is also known as a “wolf moon”. This first full moon of January, and in fact the first full moon of the decade, is apparently notorious for fomenting lunacy and strange behavior. I enjoy these five-minute Tech 5 shows because I often learn something new. They are often interesting,  often humourous, and they are almost always thought-provoking. What I find most entertaining is that Ben, an octogenarian, still has a young and inquiring mind. My dad was like that, and had an inquiring mind almost up to the day he passed, months away from his 99th birthday. He was a voracious reader, a lover of history, and a consummate student of life. Blessed with a disarming wit and charm, he made friends with people of all ages and from all walks of life.  He was genuinely interested in learning other people’s stories. 

Presently, we have Shauna’s mom, Ethel “E.T.” Taylor, visiting us from Toronto. Last Tuesday, we celebrated her 95th birthday, quietly in the comfort of our home. On air last week, I described E.T. as a force of nature. She’s intelligent, strong-minded, funny, and does not suffer fools well. In fact, when Shauna introduced me to her parents for the first time, Ethel reportedly turned to her husband Syd and whispered, “This isn’t going to last.” Shauna shares that intelligence and strength, and originally, it is what attracted me to her. As the producer of E.T.’s weekly “Martini Music” show on Hunters Bay Radio, I have come to appreciate her encyclopedic knowledge of the great music from her era. I have always maintained that, regardless of genre, good music and good songwriting are timeless. E.T. has introduced me to some remarkable bands and vocalists since we began to do the show. We have now produced 186 shows so far.

As a baby boomer, I have spoken at great length in past report about my experiences caring for my parents in the end stages of their lives. In fact, my experiences with the end stage care of my mom and dad were challenging. I know I’m not alone, but I was one of the first in my age group to deal with this. It made me feel isolated and alone. My mom’s five-year battle with Lewy Body dementia was the hardest emotional challenge I have ever faced. It was confusing, and very painful for everyone involved. Worst of all, I did not know anyone who could relate to our struggle. That said, I kept telling myself that both my parents were good to me, and whatever curveballs life threw me, I owed them a debt of gratitude for putting up with all my BS in my formative years. Now that they are gone, I am thankful I stepped up.

The other day, a young friend of mine was commenting about his struggles to raise his exuberant young son, presently nearing the end of his “terrible twos”. While I’m not a parent myself, I realize parenting, or any kind of caregiving can be a thankless task. It seems to me that, at least in North America, we are becoming less receptive to the lessons we can learn from our elders’ experiences. Other cultures value this asset more, and it concerns me. As part of the aging boomer demographic, I am perhaps more sensitive to that trend than most. I think that last Friday I was feeling a touch of the lunacy to which Ben Harrison referred in his “wolf moon” segment. It was, after all, the first full moon of the decade, and there was a lunar eclipse to boot. Maybe it has more of an effect on us codgers. I’m one of those that believes the full moon has an emotional effect on me. In any event, the message I want to convey in this week’s report is that there is something to be learned from everyone, the elderly included. They say no one gets out of here alive. I think the trick to leading a good life is to make it a mission to learn from, and embrace every phase of your life. And if you figure out how to do that effectively, would you explain it to me? I’m just howling at the moon.


https://www.space.com/19195-night-sky-planets-asteroids-webcasts.html
 Written by Jamie Oppenheimer ©2020
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
jamieoppenheimersongwriter@gmail.com
Jamie Oppenheimer, Songwriter, Author, Blogger, Radio Producer, & Host has been writing THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT every MONDAY since 1992 and has published the articles on his blog since 2006. We are including Jamie's weekly reports, as a feature of #HuntersBayRadio, The Bay 88.7FM.

HuntersBayRadio.com #MusicYouNeedToHear #EveryOneHasAStory #GotLocal? #WeAreMuskoka #WeAreAlmaguin #TheOppenheimerReport #JamieOppenheimer