A Tribute to a Teacher

This is a great album. Get it on Bo's website or from Amazon.

Back in 1976-77, as a senior at suburban Washington D.C.'s Herndon High School, I had the good fortune to have Michael Boran as my Government teacher. Mr. Boran was funny, kind, and an excellent teacher. What's more, he occasionally gave us tiny glimpses at another side of him. On several occasions, he'd pull out his guitar and play us a song as a reward. What was this? A teacher who could also do OTHER things? Unheard of in my brief lifespan. And intriguing. In his younger days, Mr. Boran had been one of the founding members of a folk rock group that evolved into the Mamas and the Papas--one of the seminal folk groups of the early and mid-1960s. Why had he given it up to become a teacher?

Flash forward to 2008. I'm sitting in my night school Government class talking with my students about how, many years ago, my government teacher had also been a musician. This inspires me to track my old teacher down and see what he's up to.

Using Google, this is easier than expected. Mr. Boran is back in the music business and even has his own website: http://www.michael-rand.com/. Contact is made through the website, and the end result is I'm back in touch with my old high school teacher, Mr. Boran (who goes by Michael Rand professionally). We traded our creations--my book for his CD. And we each think we got the best of the bargain. On his CD, Bo plays all the instruments and does main and backing vocals. It's an amazing CD by an amazing man. Ironic that Bo quit the group that would go on to make millions so that he could get a more 'stable' job as a high school teacher. As we all know, high school teachers are not in the same pay category as rock stars.

I'm sure glad he did. Thanks, Bo, you were a great teacher and you influenced many kids--including me.

Following is Bo's biography:

George Washington High School, Alexandria, Virginia, Spring 1956 - Recent graduate Willard Scott is launching a career in television that will lead to his becoming America's most beloved weatherman; alumnus John Phillips is dabbling in jazz group-singing, a la The Four Freshman, which will lead to his becoming the founder and leader of The Mamas and The Papas; and sophomore Michael Rand is forming Alexandria's first professional Rock & Roll band, The Spotlighters (At the height of their career, The Spotlighters were knocking down between sixty and eighty bucks per gig!). Michael Rand soon joined forces with John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, and Bill Cleary in a vocal group called The Smoothies. They had released two singles on the Decca label, appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, and were working on an album when they disbanded at the end of 1960. It was the height of "the folk scare". Phillips and McKenzie, along with a startlingly talented five-string banjo picker named Dick Weissman, were enjoying modest success as The Journeymen, recording on Capitol Records. Michael Rand and Tim Rose were struggling along the coffeehouse circuit as Michael and Timothy. Late in 1962, Rand married his high school sweetheart and began to realize that the insecurity of show business was not the best atmosphere in which to raise a family. So he embarked on a career in education, working his way through college and graduate school as an almost successful stand-up comedian. During these years, he opened for Bob Dylan, Josh White, Ian & Sylvia, and many other top folk and folk/rock performers, and emceed concerts by Count Basie and Woody Herman. He performed regularly at Washington's Cellar Door, Showboat Lounge, and The Bayou, and at Baltimore's popular Patches' Fifteen Below.Shortly after the collapse of his marriage in 1973, he received an offer to join The Neons, a band whose roots were in a legendary D.C. honky tonk called Chick Hall's Surf Club. He spent the next decade juggling his career as a teacher of government and political science with weekends spent playing weddings, bar mitzvahs, Moose lodges, and Elks clubs-all the while building, almost single-handedly, MOUNT HOPE, his log-and-stone home deep in the woods of Virginia's Hunt Country.The death of John Phillips in 2001 and of Tim Rose in 2002 gave Michael Rand a now-or-never feeling toward his music. With his colleague and wife, Christine, he installed a recording studio in his home and began to create the collection of unique interpretations of vintage rock and soul songs that make up his debut CD, OLD DOGS.

The Box in the Barn: Finding Dewayne Long

He was a young airman with a worn instrument case, and when he showed up to listen to the popular British dance band, instead of dancing like everybody else, he sat in front and listened. Finally, he got up the courage to ask if he could sit in with them. He took a battered trumpet from his case, and a mouthpiece from his pocket, and started to play. "We were just gob-smacked," remembers one of the band members. "He was an awesome player."

So began the young man's gig with one East Anglia's top bands. Occasionally, he would ride his bicycle twenty miles to join them for a gig. He dated a local girl, and then, as with all the American airmen who descended on Fortress Britain in the dark days of World War Two, one day he was gone, back to the States. The band missed their trumpeter, and an English girl missed her former boyfriend. The trumpet mouthpiece stayed behind, and is now in the 95th museum at Horham.


Sixty years later, 95th Bomb Group historian James Mutton was given a small cardboard box that had been found in a local barn. Inside the box, there was an 8th Air Force shoulder patch, some V-for-Victory matches, a container of aspirin, and several identification cards for one Dewayne Long. Intrigued, Mutton decided to track the young man down. Long had served in the 95th Bomb Group as a cook, and hailed from Martin, South Dakota. After sleuthing around for some time, he was able to locate Dewayne at a nursing home in Phoenix, Arizona, only a short distance from Tucson where the 95th Bomb Group was holding its annual reunion.


Dewayne made a surprise appearance at the reunion, accompanied by relatives. Frail and in a wheelchair, he is still sharp of mind.


"I never met an English person who wasn't beautiful," he remembered in a short speech at the reunion. He remains a huge devotee of the great Glenn Miller, "way ahead of his time", and told the assembled vets and their families that "War is hell. It may even be worse than hell. I don't know. But I don't want to find out".

Dewayne Long prepares to speak at the nightly fireside. Assisting him with the mike is moderator Tom Cozens, son of 95th pilot Bob Cozens.


Dewayne Long, thanks for your service, for the music you gave while in England, and for making it to the reunion.

Dewayne Long holds his trumpet mouthpiece. At left is James Mutton, the Englishman who tracked him down, holding the box; center is Englishman Alan Johnson, also a 95th BG historian; right is Long's son.

Average White Band has Above-Average Album Cover

The funky Scottish white soul band 'Average White Band' has a collection of hits out. Look what is on the cover. I love it. A B-17.

These guys are excellent. You can buy this album here: http://www.amazon.com/Very-Best-Average-White-Band/dp/B000006Z6S/ref=sr_1_48?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1195520880&sr=8-48

An Evening of Irish Music with SOLAS

Last night my wife Geri and I went to a concert by Solas, the acclaimed Irish band. It was an amazing show, especially for a place as out-of-the-way as Idaho Falls. Solas plays traditional Irish music but infuses their tunes with modern twists that have made them popular across genres. If you have never heard of Solas, you owe it to yourself to check them out. They have an excellent webpage at http://www.solasmusic.com/.

The musicians made several references to the difficulty getting enough air at our high altitude and worked very hard to put on a rousing, hand-clapping, foot-stomping show.

Since its birth in 1996, Solas has been loudly proclaimed as the most popular, influential, and exciting Celtic band to ever emerge from the United States. Even before the release of its first Shanachie CD, the Boston Herald trumpeted the quartet as "the first truly great Irish band to arise from America and the Irish Echo ranked Solas among the "most exciting bands anywhere in the world."

Since then, the praise has only grown louder. The Philadelphia Inquirer said they make "mind-blowing Irish folk music, maybe the world's best". The New York Times praised their "unbridled vitality", the Washington Post dubbed them one of the "world's finest Celtic-folk ensembles" and the Austin American-Statesman called them "the standard by which contemporary Celtic groups are judged."

Solas is virtually unique in the new territory it has opened up for Celtic music. It has performed at all the major Celtic and folk festivals, including Philadelphia, Edmonton, the legendary National Folk Festival, and Milwaukee's Irish fest; but also at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and the chamber music summer series at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It has performed at Symphony Hall, Wolf Trap, the Ford Amphitheater, and Queens Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. In New York City, where the band was based in its early years, it has played at the legendary Bottom Line folk club, but also at vaunted classical venues Town Hall and Symphony Space.
The Solas sound today is anchored by founders Seamus Egan, who plays flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, whistle, guitar and bodhran, and fiddler Winifred Horan. They are two of the most respected—and imitated—musicians anywhere in acoustic music. Mick McAuley from Kilkenny plays accordion and concertina; Eamon McElholm from Tyrone plays guitar and keyboards. Deirdre Scanlan is the band's latest vocal discovery, gorgeously filling the role carved out by founding vocalist Karan Casey.

(My note: A special treat last night was the appearance of original singer Karan Casey, who retired to be a mother a few years ago and made the trip to Idaho from Waterford, Ireland.)

Supplemental background information:

Solas has emerged as the most exciting band in traditional Irish music. The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine says, "Seamus Egan and Solas make mind-blowing Irish folk music, maybe the world's best," while the Los Angeles Times says, "Solas offers a compellingly original, strikingly contemporary view of traditional Celtic sounds." Although Solas can play undiluted traditional Irish music as well as anyone alive or departed, they are always varying the mix of fire tested tradition and contemporary sensibility with an ease and naturalness that is as astonishing as their overwhelming musicianship. As a result, they transcend musical genres into the realm of pure musical expression that only a relative handful of musicians attain. The internationally acclaimed supergroup has not only captured the hearts and ears of Irish music fans, but fans all around the globe with their blend of Celtic traditional, folk and country melodies, bluesy sometimes jazz-inspired improvisations and global rhythms. Solas has built a fanbase that includes the likes of Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris and the much sought-after rap producer Timbaland who surprisingly sampled the band on his radio hit "All Yall." Waiting for an Echo, Solas' newest gem, promises to attract new fans and further endear old ones.

Seamus Egan is an instrumental wizard who has mastered everything from the flute to tenor banjo, mandolin, tin whistle, low whistle, guitars and bodhran. Born in Hatboro, PA. and raised for a time in Foxford, Co. Mayo, Ireland, he has been signed to Shanachie Entertainment since the age of 13! Fans may remember Sarah McLaughlan's Grammy-winning hit "I'll Remember You," penned by Seamus along with Sarah and Dave Merg. The master composer has also written music and played on soundtracks for the films Brothers McMullen and the Oscar winning movie Dead Man Walking, as well as the stage show Dancing on Dangerous Ground. Seamus recently added acting to his many list of talents. In the summer, he completed filming the independent film "American Wake."

Native New Yorker Winifred Horan is a graduate of Boston's prestigious New England Conservatory of Music. She has played in Cherish the Ladies and the Sharon Shannon Band and has recorded with everyone from Richard Shindell and Patty Larkin to Liz Carroll and Eileen Ivers. Incidentally, Winifred is a nine-time Irish stepdancing titlist, and an All-Ireland fiddle champion. Horan's recent solo outing, Just One Wish, was hailed as one of the best Celtic or roots albums of 2002 by the Boston Globe, Philadelphia City Paper, Irish Times and Irish Echo. Horan's technical virtuosity coupled with her yen for musical roaming is a key element to the fascinating sound of Solas.

Mick McAuley hails from Callan, Co. Kilkenny and has long been regarded as one of Ireland's finest button accordionists. Born into a well known musical family, Mick has been playing whistles and accordion from the time he was a child. By the time he was eleven, he had already appeared on national tv. As a teenager he toured extensively throughout Europe at various cultural festivals while turning his hand to the concertina. Mick, who also sings background vocals for Solas, has performed and/or recorded with Ron Kavana, Terry Woods as "the Bucks", The Alias Band, Niamh Parsons and the Loose Connections, Karan Casey, Susan McKeown, and Paul Brennan of Clannad. In September 2003, Mick will release his Shanachie debut as a leader, An Ocean's Breadth.

Just before joining Solas, Deirdre Scanlan released her solo debut, Speak Softly, which attracted widespread praise throughout Ireland. Deirdre possesses one of those ethereal voices that keeps listeners hanging on to her every word. A native of Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, she also appeared on a recording by Nenagh Singers Circle and played fiddle with the Paddy O'Brien Ormond Ceili Band in her home county.

Eamon McElholm is a multi-talented musician, who is also an accomplished singer/songwriter, also plays keyboard and sings background vocals for Solas. He has been touring with Solas since August 2002. Eamon was born and raised in County Tyrone in the North of Ireland. For the last several years he has been heavily involved with the well-known Irish band 'Stockton's Wing' as singer, songwriter and guitarist. A few years ago Eamon was awarded the Performing Rights Society/ John Lennon Songwriters Award, at the time he was a student in Manchester, England.

Record of the Week: Harry James & Frank Sinatra

Again, a tip of the hat to Richard Havers, whose 'Record of the Week' idea I am shamelessly stealing.

This week's record features the collected works of Harry James and Frank Sinatra. James was probably the greatest big band trumpet player and his band really swung in the thirties and forties. His music is energetic and exciting. For a time, the young Frank Sinatra was Harry's vocalist. Harry continued to perform with his band for forty years until shortly before his death in Las Vegas in 1983.

Harry Haag James was born in 1916 in Albany, Georgia, in the United States. He learned the trumpet from his father, a circus bandleader. James decided to pursue a professional career in music after winning a state high-school trumpet competition.

Harry began to perform with several dance bands, including that of Ben Pollack's popular group. The flawless, technically outstanding trumpeter played for several years with the Benny Goodman Band before forming his own band in 1939 with a gifted but little known vocalist, Frank Sinatra.

During the golden era of the big bands, Harry recorded a number of hits, including "I've Heard That Song Before," from the motion picture Youth on Parade (1942), "You Made Me Love You" (1941), the number-one instrumental hit "Sleepy Lagoon" (1942), "I Had the Craziest Dream" (1943), "You'll Never Know" and his theme song, "Ciribiribin." His band helped launch the careers of many pop music stars of the World War II era, including Frank Sinatra and Helen Forrest.

Some also know Harry as the husband of American film star Betty Grable. Already a celebrity, James' marriage to Grable in 1943 cemented his status as one of the most famous American personalities of his generation.

Thanks for the music and the memories, Harry!

Buy a biography of Harry James here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195110307/januarymagazi-20

Buy the FIVE-STAR-rated album of the week from Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Recordings-Harry-James/dp/B000002ARA/ref=sr_1_2/103-7258335-3060614?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1186342803&sr=8-2

Music to Remember--Glenn Miller

I'm ripping off Richard Havers' 'Album of the Week' idea here, but at least I'll do it with a tip of the hat.

This week's album is Glenn Miller's awesome 'Moonlight Serenade'. Miller provided some of the most memorable songs of the war years. I can never listen to Glenn Miller without thinking of my dad, who loves Miller and who played it on our record player when I was growing up. The sounds of the big bands of the thirties, forties and fifties is unforgettable, and not only to those who were there. Many younger people have fallen in love with the sound of Miller, Basie, Ellington, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey and more.

Miller was an officer in the Army Air Corps and perished during the war while on a flight to entertain the troops. A brilliant musical career was cut short. Many people refer to the crash of Buddy Holly's plane as "the day the music died", but the same could be said for the tragic and untimely death of Glenn Miller.

Listen to the tracks on Amazon at this site, and order it while you are there. They are practically giving this CD away.

http://www.amazon.com/Moonlight-Serenade-RCA-Glenn-Miller/dp/B000002WH3/ref=sr_1_24/105-8748142-8187633?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1185589643&sr=1-24

An R.A.F. Stone Gathers No Moss

I am permitting myself to meander today. My two passions are aviation history and music, and today's entry covers both.


I still own a record player (three in fact) and several hundred records that have been with me for years, including most of the Beatles records (even the 45s) and all but a few of the Rolling Stones records.


For years, I've been a big fan of the Rolling Stones. Last October, I drove 850 miles round-trip from Idaho to Montana to see them in concert (and got caffeine poisoning from the all-night, coffee-fueled drive). My only regret was that my favorite Stone had long since departed Rolling Stones, Inc. and forged out on his own with independent projects.


Bill Wyman, who laid down the meanest bass licks in the business and formed, with Charlie Watts, the greatest rhythm section in the history of rock and roll, has the distinction of being one of the last of the Sixties rock and rollers to do national service in Britain. The only American who became as famous after serving time as a draftee is Jimmie Hendrix.

Wyman was drafted into the Royal Air Force in 1955. The photo shows Wyman in the summer of 1955 in Hereford.


In the fall of 1955, Wyman signed on for an additional year, and ended up posted at an RAF base at Oldenburg, West Germany, where he worked in the motor transport section.


Wyman writes: "The camp was comprised of 3 Hawker Hunter squadrons - 23 Squadron, 26 Squadron & 33 Squadron, & included 1,000 RAF Regiment members – the whole camp comprised 4,000 military personnel. The camp was on a 4-hour (evacuate the camp) alert for most of the time I was there, being only 100 miles from the Russian border."


"The Suez Crisis occurred while I was on leave in England, and I was obliged to return to base immediately. It was here that I heard the beginnings of Rock ‘n’ Roll on AFN Radio (American Forces Network), and took up guitar playing for the first time. In 1957 I formed a skiffle group on camp. I was demobbed in January 1958."


(For more on Wyman's military history, click on this link: http://www.britisharmedforces.org/ns/ns/nat_bill_wyman.htm)



When Wyman first joined the Stones, he still had a full-time job, and he treaded a fine line on his hair length and hip-ness. Of course, once the Rolling Stones took off, he could do as he pleased. After retiring from the Stones, Wyman has written a number of books on various subjects, from the Stones to blues to archealogy. He also continues to lay down his licks in various blues bands and still makes records. One of my favorite tunes, 'Stuff', is a Bill Wyman composition.


As Tom Wolfe once wrote: "The Beatles just want to hold your hand--the Stones want to burn down your town". The Stones and the Beatles are the two greatest bands of the Sixties, and of course the Stones are still rolling, but it ain't the Stones without Bill.


Today, I salute Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones for his role in defending the free world back in the scary days of the Cold War.

Music of the War Years

The late, great Glenn Miller.

In conjunction with my novel research, I now have ten WWII Air Corps vets acting as technical advisors (welcome aboard, Ben). A recent question sent out to my panel asked for input on what were the big songs of 1943 that the flyboys of the Air Corps listened to and enjoyed.

Here are the top six, in no particular order:

1. String of Pearls
2. Moonlight Serenade
3. Tuxedo Junction
4. Serenade in Blue
5. White Cliffs of Dover
6. He Wore A Pair of Silver Wings

On Air Corps veteran Marshall Stelzriede's excellent website, there is a copy of an article from the New York Times published in 1985 that suggests the theory that Miller's plane was downed accidentally by RAF bombers. The link is http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/html/mshwma22.htm. The link also has interesting audio clips, such as Miller speaking to German soldiers in 1944 and news reports of his death.

Of course, this isn't news to most WWII aviation people, but it's still very interesting.