Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

And the number one with a bullet (OK, it rhymes with “bullet”) topic in Vallejo this week: yes, folks, once again it’s bankruptcy. With a capital “B” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for “PLEASE FILE.”

Bankruptcy in California has a long history that goes back to the early days of its admittance to the Union in 1850. In 1858, for example, a wealthy San Franciscan named Joshua Abraham Norton lost his fortune investing in Peruvian rice. He declared bankruptcy, left town, and returned a year later, now declaring himself the “Emperor of these United States.” Emperor Norton.

In one of those simple twists of historical fate, Mark Twain lived in San Francisco during the good emperor’s - to use the Wikipedia term - “reign” and modeled his character of “the king” in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” after Norton.

One hundred fifty years later, the city of Vallejo is considering filing for bankruptcy and a band calling itself The Sons of Emperor Norton has released a CD titled “The Putrid Minds Anthology: Battle Hymns for the Blue States.” This anthology is actually a collection of songs and spoken word performances with one Joseph F. Kaline as the musical common denominator. Kaline either wrote, arranged, or recorded the songs on the disc, which represents twenty years of his work.

Along with the above-mentioned Sons, this CD includes tracks by The Beat Meters, The Hi-Fi’s, The Quadrophonics, and a four-part “radio play” involving Norton, Twain, Stephen Hawking, Elvis Presley as an undercover government agent, a waitress, and ambient bar sounds.

The songs are almost all political in nature. The term “political” in this case is not meant to suggest any affiliation, acceptance, or acknowledgement of anything involving or suggesting “American Conservatism.” These songs lean leftward. Songs with titles like “”Killing for the Oil Companies (The Pledge of Obedience),” “The Irrational Anthem,” “Smash the Corporate Oligarchy,” and “They Spent All Their Money on Their Health (and drove drunk)” are probably not going to be in Dick Cheney’s iPod. (Dick Cheney with an iPod – THERE’S an image.)

As a collection, this recording reminds me of the person we all know who cannot have a conversation or be in any social situation without interjecting his or her fiercely impassioned political views. Even if one is in agreement with this person, after awhile it just gets old hearing the same old same old.

The music and performances are well-played and well-recorded; this is not a lo-fi project or a collection of Alan Lomax field recordings. Perhaps the dating metaphor works best here: nice, attractive, even an occasional laugh, but I’m just not into it. Besides, I’m married.