So Who Coined The Term "Heavy Metal" Anyway??

At some point in my sordid rock and roll life, I met and dated the rock producer Sandy Pearlman. (I know, I know, people roll their eyes because well, if you know Sandy and if you knew me, I've had people ask me, "what the hell?") But Sandy is one of the most brilliant men I've ever met. Some background, Sandy was not only a manager for Black Sabbath, but also one of the founders of the group Blue Oyster Cult. There is a reason why some of the lyrics you find on Blue Oyster Cult albums to be so esoteric and that is because Sandy is a rather cerebral type, prone towards talking at length about the supernatural aspects of physics and the universe. But no worries, he also loves the physical universe, especially if it involves a fancy restaurant that serves salmon heavily encrusted with garlic. Luckily for me, that is still one of my favorite dishes. I've learned the hard way that if you are with someone who is eating garlic, you must do so as well.

I get truly amused that Sandy is credited with the phrase "More Cowbell." But there is a better phrase in which he is credited with in coining and that is the relationship of the phrase "Heavy Metal" to music when in 1968 he wrote about The Byrds in a rock mag for their supposed "aluminium style of context and effect", particularly on their album The Notorious Byrd Brothers. How fitting that his love of science and metaphysical relationships would produce that type of association. For a long time, I have had a fight with Wikipedia about Sandy's involvement in coining that phrase, because they kept citing the use of the phrase in the song Born to be Wild, saying that was the first time it was used. I was not alone in this dispute. Other long time music journalists have also argued that Sandy was the one who originally coined the phrase. Finally I discovered that today, this wrong has been rectified. The page on Heavey Metal at Wikipedia has now been changed!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music

So kudos to Sandy for our love of "Heavy Metal!

I'm happy to report that Sandy is now basking in his role of professor at McGill University in Montreal, where he hangs out with another ex of mine, lol.

More on that later.

About Innocent Intentions

So today, I see this article from Rolling Stone about the famous Rock Photographer Jim Marshall. It features some of his iconic photos: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/iconic-rock-shots-from-em-trust-photographs-of-jim-marshall-em-20100301?link=mostpopular4%22 I remember once meeting Jim Marshall, at the time I was a 20 something gal and he was an older guy who was a pretty established well-known rock photographer. He invited me to his place to take a 'look' at some of his photos. Of course, not sure what his intentions were, I declined. Then I posted about this to one of the facebook pages I moderate. Here's one of the responses I got about Jim from a lady called Susan:

He was definitely into hitting on women. He got me in a lip-lock that I didn't see coming and practically wrestled me to the ground... but he was a very talented guy, gotta give him that. I wouldn't go to his studio either... he kissed me on the street or else I wouldn't have been caught offguard...

So maybe I wasn't so offbase by declining. In retrospect, maybe he was just trying to show me his photos! But maybe not. The answer, of course, is now lost in the cosmos.

Meeting George Jones

Today George "She Stopped Loving Me Today" Jones passed away. I was surprised because I thought he had already left the universe. Anyway, I came across this little tidbit about a friend who met George:

I met George Jones once. The owner of the restaurant I worked at asked me to drive a limo to the airport to pick up Jones and his group. After I loaded their luggage, I closed the trunk, but it didn't close all the way. I ran my thumb under the edge of the lid and only then discovered that it had one of those gradual-closing-and-locking devices, and the lid slowly crushed my thumb. I screamed and somehow got it out. Then we all got in the car and I drove them to the restaurant. No one said a single word to me. And that's how I met George Jones.