Record Collectors Magazine
This column ran for over three years in the Record Collector Magazine. I took four pages to try to explain that Rock and Roll is not just about dates, cars and girlfriends. Lol! I dig deep into the lyrics and give an insight into how great songwriters develop stories that are a reflection of the culture that they reside in.
American Rock Lyric Landscape
I have been listening to Rock and Roll for as long as I can remember. But, having grown up here in Japan I always thought that so many rock songs was only listened to on face value. I liked rock songs that said more than I love you baby, or let’s go for a drive and watch the sunset. To really comprehend and understand the songs that I have selected and wrote about in this column, I think that you need some American cultural context. I tried to do that, not just explaining the “other” meaning of certain words but trying to get at what the artists were trying to convey with their words. Some humorous, some serious, but I think all these songs here have a deeper cleverness that doesn’t appear on the first listen.
僕は物心ついた頃から、ロックンロールを聴いていた気がする。 しかし日本人たちの多くは、ロックソングを表面的にしか聴いていないといつも思っていた。僕は ”私はあなたを愛している”とか、”ドライブで夕日を見に行こう”と歌う日本の曲より、もっと深い意味がある曲が好きだった。 このコラムで紹介した曲を本当に理解するには、アメリカの文化的背景を知る必要があると思う。 特定の単語の「その他」の意味を説明するだけでなく、アーティストがその言葉を使って、伝えようとしていることを理解してほしい。 ユーモラスな曲もあればシリアスな曲もあるけれど、ここにある曲はどれでも、一回聴いただけじゃ本当の意味がわからない。深い巧妙さを持っている曲ばかりだ。
・No.01 Last Chance Texaco
・No.02 Willin'
・No.03 Deportees
・No.04 Pancho And Lefty
・No.05 Margaritaville
・No.06 Born To Run
・No.07 Redneck Friend
・No.08 You Don't Mess Around With Jim
・No.09 City Of New Orleans
・No.10 Gentle On My Mind
・No.11 Tequila Sunrise
・No.12 Nick Of Time
・No.13 Acadien Driftwood
・No.14 Taxi
・No.15 Lodi
・No.16 Step Right Up
・No.17 Cosmic Cowboy
・No.18 Creeque Alley
・No.19 Sam Stone
・No.20 Rednecks
・No.21 Younger Generation
・No.22 LA Freeway
・No.23 Truckin'
・No.24 Carmelita
・No.25 Ode To Billie Joe
・No.26 Jack And Diane
・No.27 American Pie Part 1
・No.28 American Pie Part 2
・No.29 Harper Valley PTA
・No.30 Saturday Night Special
・No.31 Hurricane Part 1
・No.32 Bob Dylan
・No.33 St Dominic Preview
・No.34 Hypnotized
・No.35 Pina Coladas
・No.36 P F Sloan
・No.37 Danny's All Star Joint
・No.38 Low Down
・No.39 Dixie Chicken
・No.40 Daniel And the Sacred Harp
・No.41 Almost Cut My Hair
・No.42 Before The Deluge
・No.43 Walk On The Wild Side
String Them Along
The Record Collector magazine decided to change the format of my column, perhaps because it was getting very difficult to fact check my columns due to budget and staff cuts. So instead of focusing on one song, we found a subject and strung several songs together that explored the same themes.
Interview
The Record Collector interviews people that collect LP albums every month. This was when they interviewed me. There was one problem, most of my records were still in storage in California so they could not take a photo of the collection.
・No.01 旅に呼ばれ、世界に飛び立つということ/Travel Songs
・No.02 南部白人層のメンタリティに触れてみる/Southern Songs
・No.03 浮気や不倫をテーマにした〝チーティン・ソング〟/Cheatin Songs
・No.04 エコロジーに共鳴し生み出された曲/Eco Songs
・No.05 日本にはない? 哀愁のプリズン・ソングたち/Prison Songs
・No.06 アメリカ/メキシコ国境にまつわる歌/Mexico Songs
・No.07 情緒に満ちた、電話絡みの歌/Operator Songs
・No.08 アメリカ人が抱く、馬への特別な憧憬/Horse Songs
・No.09 〝髪の毛〟 に見る時代の様相/Hair Songs
・No.10 人生のメタファーとしてのロード・ソング/Road Songs
・No.11 ラジオ/DJを題材にした曲あれこれ/Radio Songs
・No.12 アメリカン・インディアンの歴史に触れた曲/Baseball
・No.13 アメリカ人の心の故郷としての野球/Indian Songs
・No.14 鳥にまつわる慣用句/諺を使った曲、生んだ曲/Birds
・No.15 故郷に帰れない、切なくてロマンある男心/Coming Home
・No.16 人々が描く、ジプシーへの様々なイメージ/Gypsy
・No.17 実は秋が似合う、サーファーの曲/Surf Songs
・No.18 貧乏育ち/Growing Up Poor
Interview
The Record Collector interviews people that collect LP albums every month. This was when they interviewed me. There was one problem, most of my records were still in storage in California so they could not take a photo of the collection.
Column
A special tribute column about my dear friend Monsieur Kamayatsu.
Music Column"Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow"
I was asked by a magazine that focused on sea side living called “By The Sea” to write about mellow music that you could play as you watched the sun go down over the ocean.
・No.01 CecilioAnd Kapono
・No.02 America
・No.03 Sailing
・No.04 Monkees
・No.05 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
・No.06 Harry Belafonte
・No.07 K.D Lang
・No.08 Texas Tornados
・No.09 Donovan
・No.10 Seals And Croft
・No.11 Linda Ronstadt
・No.12 Jackson Browne
・No.13 J.J Cale
・No.14 Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks
Column
This was a one off and Jack Johnson seemed like a great artist to feature for an outdoor magazine.
Column
When I was fifty years old my main radio show got cancelled so I had some time off. I had some money saved up so I took my five year old son and took a trip on Route 66. All the way from Chicago where it begins all the way to Santa Monica where it ends. Lucky for me before I left for this trip I had a new radio show lined up for me when I got returned from the trip..
Column
A magazine for outdoor life. A one shot music page. Also documented a motor home road trip with the family.
In this column they wanted a mix of fashion and music.
I got an offer to travel the south west of America in a motor home with my family. They wanted us to visit the great desert landscapes and visit Motor home parks.
Column
Wrote a columns about music that had some kind of link to the sea. It was more of how we encounter music in our lives.
・No.01 James Taylor
・No.02 Jimmy Buffet
・No.03 Ray Kane
・No.04 Glen Campbell
・No.05 Ukulele Summit
・No.06 Beach Boys
・No.07 Waimanalo Blues
・No.08 Grateful Dead
・No.09 Israel
・No.10 Jack Johnson
・No.11 Loggins ANd Messina
・No.12 Joni Mitchell
・No.13 CSN&Y
・No.14 Ka'Au Crater Boys
・No.15 Chabuca Granda
・No.16 Stills Young Band
・No.17 Gallagher And Lyle
・No.18 Tiki Taboo
・No.19 One Night Stand
・No.20 Bolinas
・No.21 Caravan
・No.22 Batdorf And Rodney
・No.23 Leonard Cohen
・No.24 Henry Kapono
・No.25 Crosby Stills And Nash
・No.26 Quicksilver Messenger Service
・No.27 Tom Curren
・No.xx Van Morrison.docx
Column
I appeared in two articles in this magazine. One was an interview of me and Mr. Sakuma, beachside real estate agent extraordinaire. Two old friends talking about the history of the beach side culture here in Kamakura and Hayama. The second article was an interview with me talking story about Kamakura.
・SSJ Special Talk Session
・George Cockle Interview
Column
Here is a collection of assorted articles I wrote for various magazines.
A whiskey magazine.
・The Surfer’s Journal / Little Pot Blues
A story about a little surf town off the beaten track.
・The Surfer’s Journal / Library The Art Of Waves
A book review off Clark Little’s fantastic book of wave photographs.
This was an interview column that appeared in the Shonan Style Magazine. Photograph by Taisuke Yokoyama.
A column for the Blue Note live venue of California band Pablo Cruise.
Surf Column
A web magazine related to the Interstyle Surf convention. You write one and then pass it on to someone else. You never knew what people were going to write next.
・サーフトリップ
・３R’s
・Put Your Foot Down And Go
・What is surfing？
Pray for surf! NAMI-ARU? In Cooperation Surfline
Column
A web magazine attached to the daily surf reports. Talking story of music and surfing.
・壁のないサーフィン
・サーファーいいわけ Unwritten Rule
・海の家
・幻の写真
・人食いザメ
・Get it while you can！
・Learn to fucking swim
・No Fin No Fan?
・Head Above Water(頭上の波)
・Instant Karma~悪いことは自分に返ってくる
・SURFING KEEPS YOU GROUNDED
・THE RULES OF SURFING
・スポーツマン・サーファー
・ローカリズム
・１本目が大事
・Friends Through Surfing
・GO OFF AND LICK YOUR WOUNDS!