I don't think there's even really a word for someone who's your dad's cousin... Is there?

I believe that is called a "first cousin, once removed."

As for #s of cousins, some families generally use the term "cousins" for more than just first cousin. More complex relations, like the aforementioned, 2nd cousins, various step-relations, etc., get lumped into the easy word "cousin." So maybe if your parents had 60-80 cousins each, that would explain why. That or their families REALLY liked procreating.

WELL..Mike declared bankruptcy in early 80"s

No way, that can't be true

It's not unusual for rich, famous people to declare bankruptcy. Hell, Donald Trump has done it. Besides, Mike has a lot of wives and kids he's paying, and I'm sure he was maintaining a certain lifestyle that wasn't cheap. I'm not surprised at all to hear that.

^ But that didn't stop them from identifying sonic perfection everywhere else.

Music doesn't suck today unless you're looking in the wrong places: most major labels release nothing but garbage, and obviously commercial radio and video channels suck. But there is plenty of great music. But yes, the past few Dylan albums have been really good. I'd argue that his past five are good, with both acoustic covers albums and then Time Out of Mind, Love & Theft and Modern Times all being really good. L&T, in particular, is brilliant, not just compared to what was out in 2001 but compared to Dylan's work.

As for New Morning, I think it's pretty weak. I don't really think any of that early 70s stuff is worth much, not until BOtT.

'Since I've Been Loving You' is such a great song and production.

The squeaky kick-drum pedal is kind of annoying on it though. How could they have not noticed it during recording?

"Passing Friend" is the worst thing on the album by a long shot.

Talk about a hard-won honor. There's barely a moment on the album that doesn't make me feel like vomiting.

In the meantime, I looked up GI3 and it seemed to be some kind of protein. I didn't post because that didn't seem like much of a rock 'n' roll party drug or anything. But I am happy to announce to you:

"Gi3 does not contribute to the inhibition of adenylate cyclase when stimulation of an alpha 2-adrenergic receptor causes activation of both Gi2 and Gi3."

Good news! (Or is it ... I don't know what it means.)

Would love to see sheet music for every BB song ever released like they do for the Beatles.

Me too. The hardbound white book affectionately known as the "Beatle Bible" is amazing, full transcriptions for every instrument of every song. It's great. Not 100% accurate, necessarily, but so good and cool as not to matter. I'd love a BBs one.

An artist with no commercial success, in most cases, will leave nothing behind because he'll have been a tree falling in the woods with no one to hear him.

(Being devil's advocate, obviously, to an extent.)

brianc, do you think you could use the "Quote" button when quoting? I hope this doesn't sound like I'm being rude, because I don't mean to. But it makes things easier to read. The asterisks don't really set apart quotes easily.

Did he also have to wear an uniform, as everyone alse? I thought punk was about individualism.

One of my favorite all-time quotes actually plays in very nicely here. It's a Zappa quote from a live 1968 show--I think the Royal Albert Hall. Someone yells something about "take off that uniform," presumably because Zappa was wearing an army jacket, as he did sometimes. The crowd roars, and Zappa calmly says something to the effect of "Don't kid yourself, everyone in here is wearing a uniform." Seems apt to the conversation for a few reasons.

**But my point is to categorize an attitude by a musical term, when that attitude existed before and outside of that musical genre, probably isn't the best way to go. I get what you mean, it just feels like playing loose with the language ... which is very punk of you. **

Thanks, but I'm not trying to be "punk" in any sense of the word.

I know, i get what you're saying -- i was joking. (see my parenthetical from that same msg)

But my point is to categorize an attitude by a musical term, when that attitude existed before and outside of that musical genre, probably isn't the best way to go. I get what you mean, it just feels like playing loose with the language ... which is very punk of you.

(I'd put a smiley there but I'm off emoticons. f*** 'em. So you have to understand my intentions are good.)

I wonder if you take it too far to hint that individualism is punk. It was a part of punk, sure. But it was before, around and after punk, too. It seems analogous to saying guitars are rock 'n' roll, and then saying some modern jazz guitarist is rock 'n' roll because of it.

From a musical perspective--which, when we're at heart discussing music--Zappa was pretty far removed from anything punk. Any time he used the punk idiom, it was for comedy (generally at the expense of punk).

But if we're talking about strong personalities, individualists and brilliant artists, yes, Zappa is those. Er, was those.

Whatever punk-rock's merits were, the part about it that I enjoy the most ... the honesty, desperation, collaboration and overall feeling that the scene is bigger than the individual.

It's not just a punk sound, either. I feel that artists like Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Frank Zappa and Dennis Wilson had a lot of the traits I love most in artists, even if they weren't out and out "punk," genre-wise.

I think you're as far off on Zappa as you can be. I think that he felt he was bigger than any scene, or that he was the scene. For that matter, any honesty in his music was probably by mistake, as he was ever the cynic and smartass. Desperation? In "Trouble Every Day," maybe, and while trying to balance the books after putting on symphony shows or touring a large band. Collaboration? He never admits to any, although there was obviously some.

I wonder if you're just listing people you like and compartmentalizing them in some aesthetic you imagine to be there.

^ I think they'd ask whether it was a song they were releasing or not! It's easy to love an artistic flop that isn't on your own dime. And if it were theirs, I think they'd fall in line with the commercial success. Nothing wrong with that, either, as long as a person is honest about it.

It's always easy for non-artists to criticize artists for commercial interests. And it's also amusing, as if we go to work for the artistic merit of sitting in a cubicle...

Traffic driving through puddles, birds chirping and, when there's a lull between those, rain hitting the street.

[Please take this in the right spirit, which is not judgmental at all, but in fun.]

I hope you're smiling or joking when you say:

Hey Luther,

I don't give a F... about what your sick of.

If you're not interested, then don't read it.

because I tried to be clear when I started the thread with:

OK, blatant attention-getting subject there, but it is the point of my post. Please take this in the right spirit, which is not judgmental at all, but in fun. We're all to a certain extent Beach Boys/Brian Wilson/music geeks here--I think our very presence on a message board dedicated to those things proves that to some extent. So we're none of us innocent.

I can't argue with Luther's selections too much, but would definitely find room for "Steet Legal" or "Oh Mercy" in place of "World Gone Wrong".

I dislike SL and don't much like OM.

Agreed, when you're picking two of the most highly regarded albums in history, it's not a bad place to start. The recent (2001) Love & Theft is also an amazing album, as are Blood on the Tracks and Bringing it All Back Home. Those five are most likely my favorites. Or thereabouts. (Such lists change.)

I've been waiting for a "Dylan Greatest" list! Perhaps Top 10 albums and Top 10 tracks?

Here's a top 10 Dylan albums list I did on another board relatively recently.

1. Bringing It All Back Home
2. Blonde on Blonde
3. Love & Theft
4. Live 1966 (Bootleg Series)
5. Blood on the Tracks
6. John Wesley Harding
7. Basement Tapes
8. Highway 61 Revisited
9. Modern Times
10. World Gone Wrong

Are there any record companies negotiating with Brian to sign him/it? Is he performing TLOS live in concert on his upcoming tour?

Wouldn't these questions imply that commercial success is required for artistic success? To be honest, I don't care if he plays it more here or if it's released on a label (as opposed to independently) because he could put it out anyway on his own dime and it would be the same quality. Maybe it would do all right, realistically it wouldn't. I don't care either way about that. It is his best solo work (not counting Smile), at least assuming they don't kill it in the recording and producing stages.

OK, blatant attention-getting subject there, but it is the point of my post. Please take this in the right spirit, which is not judgmental at all, but in fun. We're all to a certain extent Beach Boys/Brian Wilson/music geeks here--I think our very presence on a message board dedicated to those things proves that to some extent. So we're none of us innocent.

But do you ever read posts here and just wonder--even quickly, to yourself--"who the f--- cares about that?"

I can tell you that while I could go on forever about the actual musical questions, and take some interest in the amateur psychologist family dynamics debates, as soon as the threads turn to what version of what product was released where and when, or which sessions happened where on what day, I ask myself those questions. It is of no interest to me whether the first pressing of some single misspelled Capitol as Capital. (And yes, I made that up, so if you're into such things, don't ask me for more information.) Any sort of collector's paraphernalia just means nothing to me. Scheduling is similarly uninteresting to me (except on those occasions when I want to use the fruits of someone else's labor, in which case I'm thrilled someone cares enough to do the work).

At what point(s) do you tune out and think, "what a bunch of nerds!"?

I'd hazard a guess that he's not strictly religious, but is somewhat spiritual.

Agreed, when you're picking two of the most highly regarded albums in history, it's not a bad place to start. The recent (2001) Love & Theft is also an amazing album, as are Blood on the Tracks and Bringing it All Back Home. Those five are most likely my favorites. Or thereabouts. (Such lists change.)

I have posted a revised version of this--new bass, remixed--on my myspace. Stop by for a listen, or to download (for free).

myspace.com/thebeaumondes