Greatest Song Evah 10/4/24

A Change Is Gonna Come

When an artist dies young, in addition to the inherent tragedy, there is always a tremendous feeling of “what if?” Particularly if the artist in question has started to show a change in direction one can’t help but wonder where it would have led had they lived. This song from Sam Cooke, which became a vital part of the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Era, is a case in point.

The song was inspired by a few incidents, most notably one in which he and his band attempted to check into a hotel room that he had pre-booked in the Jim Crow south. Upon his arrival the clerk informed him that there were no vacancies after all. That’s the kind of BS that was tragically all too common, and it’s likely that it wasn’t the first time it had happened to him, but this one stuck. It was also around this time that he first heard Blowin’ in the Wind and Cooke decided that he could no longer remain silent, it was high time that a prominent black artist write his own civil rights anthem.

The lyrics are aching and heartfelt, and Cooke brings every last bit of his gospel background into his vocals. The arrangement is also very subtle, you can hear a different instrument featured in the foreground of each verse.

This song is even more poignant due to the timing of its release. It’s not technically a posthumous song; it appeared on an album released several months before his death, but he did not perform the song live with the exception of an appearance on the Tonight Show. It was eventually released as a single, which came out two weeks after he was shot to death. That gave it a similar feel to Martin Luther King’s “I have seen the promised land” speech; Cooke is looking towards a more hopeful future that he would not live to see for himself.

As I said at the beginning, because it was so different from much of the rest of Sam Cooke’s discography both lyrically and musically, it’s impossible to get into his head and know if this song was an anomaly or if he was going to commit to more social relevance. Sadly, we will never know, but we do have this snapshot. It was one of the landmark recordings of the early 1960’s.

About Last Night…

I was all set to write up a postmortem on the 2024 Mets, until last night’s game took a turn…

In the immortal words of the great Sarah Langs, “wheee!” Ever since the Mets began to emerge out of the primordial ooze that was the first third of their season, there has been something that has felt special about this team. They have shown a resiliency; I rarely feel they are ever out of a game. Between game #161 on Monday and last night’s epic they have played two instant classics within the space of four days and have put me through the wringer and then some. There is still a month of playoff baseball ahead of us. Man oh man.

None of the results in the wild card round really surprised me. Give the Braves credit for making the playoffs, but they were just too beat up. For the second consecutive year the Orioles were too passive at the trade deadline and partially as a result of that inertia they crawled to the finish line. And this year’s Tigers are on one of those magical runs where everything is going their way. Their rotation is too thin to believe they can win a 5 or 7 game series, but a best of 3 was well within reach.

This all leads to 4 enticing matchups. 2 heated regional rivalries in the 2 NL series, and in the AL a trio of central division teams who are collectively playing David to the Yankees’ Goliath. Will the Tigers magic continue? Is this the year of Bobby Witt Jr.?Will we see a Yankees/Guardians LCS during midge season? Can’t wait.

John Amos 1939-2024

I would think that for an actor their biggest wish would be to create at least one character that will go down in history. John Amos had 3. More importantly, they were all vastly different roles which demonstrated his versatility. As James Evans in the early seasons of Good Times he was the strong authority figure in a sitcom which had serious undertones until it devolved into the J.J. Show. As the older version of Kunta Kinte in Roots he brought the necessary level of gravitas to a prestige project. As Cleo McDowell in Coming To America he showed that he could play a great comic goofball as well as anyone. The mischievous look on his face in that movie was priceless.

The man just had a presence about him. There’s a good reason why another one of his popular roles was as an admiral in The West Wing. He was a large man (a former professional football player) and combined with his deep rich voice he had a very commanding presence. This also made him seem older than he actually was. In fact, when he was starring in Good Times in real life he was closer in age to his TV son than he was to his TV wife.

Amos died in late August but his son did not announce the death until earlier this week. A family is certainly entitled to make a public announcement on their own terms, but there was a story which came out last year detailing the feud between Amos’s children. His daughter made accusations of elder abuse against his son, alleging that the son was taking advantage of his father’s diminishing mental capabilities, and in fact the daughter found out about his death at the same time that the rest of us did. That’s a terribly sad end to the life of a well-liked actor.

The Frick Finalists

The Baseball Hall Of Fame announced the 10 finalists for the 2025 Ford Frick Award, bestowed for lifetime achievement in broadcasting. (Now it’s time for me to put on my Killjoy Hat. The winner will not be a HOF enshrinee, nor is their such a thing as a broadcasting wing of the Hall. It’s a prestigious honor, but there is a reason that the winner gives an acceptance speech on the Saturday of induction weekend and not during the main ceremony on Sunday.)

I don’t envy the voters - the 13 living previous recipients of the award along with 3 baseball historians. How do you select only one man from this list? Obviously as a Mets fan I’m rooting for Gary Cohen, but what about Kruk and/or Kuip? There are also some nominees whom I haven’t had opportunities to listen to, but I’m fully aware of how highly regarded they are. On a personal level I want to give a shout-out to Dave Sims. When he was working in the New York market he helped set up many of my friends with internships; the guy is a good dude.

Anyhoo, good luck to all. Whoever wins will be a superb choice; hopefully the time will come for those passed up before it’s too late. Election results will be announced during MLB’s Winter Meetings in December.

SNL Preview

After an uninspiring season premiere, time for episode #2, which figures to have many of the same issues that #1 did. Don’t expect to see a whole lot of the current cast. The cold open is a near certainty to be a take on the VP debate, and it is also likely to be another marathon length sketch. Add that to the fact that this week’s host is a standup comic, which means the monologue will run longer than normal, and the first sketch of the week won’t come up until more than 20 minutes into the show.

On the other hand, the standup in question, Nate Bargatze, hosted one of last year’s best episodes. He showed a natural talent for sketch comedy, which isn’t a given with standup comics. I’m guardedly optimistic that this week’s episode will be a lot funnier than last week’s was. Frequent musical guest Coldplay will supply the tunes.

The Oscar Mulligan - 1994

Best Picture - Forrest Gump

Other Nominees - Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

I could very easily just say Pulp Fiction and call it a day without dissing Forrest Gump, but… There are certainly things to admire about it. It’s an impressive technical achievement, and all of the actors were outstanding. My problem is that for me at times it gets a little too cutesy for its own good: Gump’s need to urinate when he met the President, the way he inadvertently inspires the lyrics to Imagine, etc. Plus, the movie doesn’t really say anything substantive. The only way to survive through our tumultuous history is if you’re completely oblivious? And Mama Gump lied. There is a diagram on the bottom of the box of chocolates. You know exactly what you’re gonna get if you just do some basic research.

Big shoutouts as well to 2 of the other nominees. (Four Weddings & a Funeral was a better than average romcom, but nothing spectacular.) I know that Quiz Show has many admirers, but in a strange way Ralph Fiennes was almost too effective as Charles Van Doren. The character was too cold and distant for me to truly get into his story. In most other years, Shawshank would be a great choice. It is rewatchable, has made a major cultural impact, it is quotable, and it is filled with memes. Unfortunately for it, all of these same things can be said for Pulp Fiction, even more so.

Pulp Fiction is one of the most influential movies of its time, sometimes to its detriment. In its wake we saw way too many movies featuring colorful criminals with equally colorful dialogue. None of those pretenders to the throne could hold a candle to Pulp Fiction. Everything about the movie is near perfect - from the casting, to the original universe that it creates, to the soundtrack, to the vast quantity of quotes that I’m sure you are hearing in your head this very moment.

This is structured as a series of mini-movies within a larger narrative, told non-linearly. That works to its favor; the diner standoff makes for an ideal framing device, and SPOILER ALERT it allows a popular character to walk off into the final fade to black still alive, which would not have been the case otherwise. If you try to piece the film together in order, I suppose it would still have a nice flow, but it works wonderfully as is.

To follow up on the casting - there have been few better ensembles. It’s impossible to picture anyone else other than Harvey Keitel as The Wolf or Samuel L. Jackson as Jules; they and others are so indelibly identified with those roles. There is also this - one of the stories circulating around the movie is that Ellen DeGeneres read for the role that was eventually played by Rosanna Arquette. Now that this image is seared into your brain, you’re welcome.

Even at the time of that year’s ceremony there was a feeling of a cultural clash between fans of the two top contenders. Mainstream audiences preferred Gump, indie ones went with Pulp Fiction. Forrest Gump remains a very popular movie to this day, but I firmly believe that this was a case of Pulp Fiction losing the battle yet winning the war. It is an inner circle canonical film, and is the one that deserved to have won.

Closing Laughs

There is no baseball today. Boo! At least this gives us a chance to catch our collective breath. Have a great weekend all, and we’ll set up camp again on Monday. See ya then!