Remembering Tom Browne: A Motorhead Anecdote

Over the past half century suburban living has gotten a bad rap. For me personally, growing up in a suburban development in the 1960s was a very good experience. The 54-home development we lived in during my teen years offered three styles of houses: ranch, split-level and bi-level, all with either three or four bedrooms. Home buyers had four options for colors, and three or four options for color of roof shingles. All lots were three-quarters of an acre, half lawn, half woods. That, however, was not what made it memorable.

The only feature of the new neighborhood that really mattered to me was that nearly every home had kids. Newlyweds don't buy large first houses like that. They were all three and four bedroom homes. So it was easy to find kids to play with, to organize football, baseball or basketball games after school or through the summer. Since every family there had come from somewhere else -- my brothers and I had been transplanted from Ohio -- anyone wanting to make new friends had a wealth of opportunities to encounter similar situations. 

The Brownes, who lived in a ranch on the upper side of us, were transplanted to Bridgewater (New Jersey) from the Oranges, I believe. East Orange in Essex County was the 20th most tightly packed city in New Jersey, a state with a lot of tightly packed communities. Bridgewater gave families some breathing room. 

Tom was the oldest of three kids, a year younger than I. He had a much younger sister, Donna, with curly red hair and freckles who was a cutie. I used to sing to their mom, "Mrs. Browne you've got a lovely daughter." There was also a young son named Bobby.

I turned 12 the year we moved to Jersey, and Tom (his parents called him Tommy) was 11. My brother Ron was a year younger than Tom so that when we wanted to do something we at least had a starting core. This played out in a lot of ways in which I had ideas that would evolve into bigger things. I'll share examples another time. Summers we played endless hours of billiards, ping pong, slot car racing, Monopoly and other time-filling activities. 

My brother Ron (right) and I with Tom at his home
a little south of Easton.

Mr. Browne had two lawn mowers, one of them a push mower and the other a ride-around. When Tom was 13 or 14, he completely disassembled and re-assembled that push mower. The following year, he decided to tackle the ride-around mower. (I will assume he had permission from his dad.)

These experiences served to strengthen his confidence so that one year before he got his driver's license he bought a dark blue 2-door sports car, an MGB, and proceeded to completely dismantle. He took apart everything you can take apart on a car, and spent the year re-assembling it so that on his 17th birthday, when he got his license he had his car as well. 

Considering that these were the days before YouTube, which makes all manner of knowledge accessible, it was an impressive achievement.

Tom wasn't motivated by school, nor sports and the other distractions of pop culture. He seemed comfortable in his own skin, riding his bicycle on long excursions for hours on end, thinking his own thoughts and transitioning to what he would later become, a biker and independent thinker. He was always responsible, not afraid of work--or probably anything else--and though our lives took different paths, we remained friends, always happy to see one another when I went east to visit my family.

The photos here of Tom were taken in 2016. He would be gone within the year.

Mrs. Browne's lovely little daughter is all growed up now. Donna: this one's for you. More stories still to come.

Bob Dylan and the Civil Rights Movement, a Lecture by Steve Potts

Thursday night I went to see/hear Steve Potts' third Year of Dylan presentation. His previous two lectures, held at the Discovery Center in Chisholm, were on Dylan & the Beatles, and Dylan & the Vietnam War. Potts, who teaches at the community college on the Iron Range, is also an author, having published 150 children's books alongside his teaching career. 

Brian Simonson, a member of the committee involved in helping launch the St. Louis County Year of Dylan, welcomed the small but appreciative audience in attendance and introduced the speaker. The talk was dense with information, his style of delivery easygoing and authentic. 

Before diving into his theme Mr. Potts briefly touched on some personal stories that set up his lecture. Bob Dylan's presence at the August 28, 1963 March on Washington wasn't an aberration for Bob. In 1971 he participated--invited by his good friend George Harrison--in the Concert for Bangladesh, and later performed in the first globally broadcast concert for a cause, Live Aid. "Today everyone does concerts for charity," Potts said, noting these latter two events were groundbreaking.

In 1963 the times were indeed changing. The years leading up to the March on Washington included Freedom Rides, lunch-counter sit-ins, arrests and violence against Blacks who were striving to raise awareness regarding the injustices taking place. Southern Democrats were blocking the implementation of the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education and President Kennedy, fearing he would lose this voting block in the following year's re-election bid, did little to pressure the Southern Dems.

Black leaders from nearly all the major groups, decided to call for a March on Washington for jobs and an end segregation. The "Big Six" of this leadership coalition included Roy Wilkins, John L. Lewis, Whitney Young, James Farmer, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Philip Randolph. Washington DC was chosen primarily for its symbolic value.

Dr. Martin Luther King was insistent that there be no violence. (Malcolm X, who was not part of this event, called it "The Farce on Washington.")

It's interesting that after the assassination of Dr. King, riots broke out in every major city in the U.S., except Minneapolis. Mr. Potts suggested that this was because Hubert Humphrey was mayor at that time. 

There were a lot of important people present that day. Jackie Robinson, James Baldwin, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee and Sammy Davis, Jr. to name a few.

Joan and Bob. Post card on one of my cabinets.

How did Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul, and Mary end up singing there? Evidently someone felt that by having these young White singers perform it would reach other young people.

In July, two weeks after Medgar Evers was shot, Bob, Pete Seeger and others went to Greenwood, Mississippi to perform on behalf of voter rights for Blacks, the cause for which Evers. had been killed. Potts said, "You've got to respect a man who put his career on the line for a cause." 

Afterwards, there were requests made for Bob to be a spokesperson for other causes and Dylan stepped back from being the front man for causes. He denied being the voice of a generation and refused to be anyone's pawn. He did not, however, stop writing songs that challenged and informed people with a conscience. 

At one point the speaker drew our attention to another Dylan song about an event from the Sixties, Dylan's longest song. How long? 17 minutes. Mr. Potts noted that Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech is also 17 minutes. He then asked, "Coincidence?" (I'm referring to Dylan's Covid-era needle drop "Murder Most Foul" about the assassination of President Kennedy.)

For me it immediately brought to mind other layers of meaning regarding the number 17, which I wrote about in this blog post about the Alhambra. Since then, 17 is among my favorite numbers, and these new connections only served to reinforce that impression.

Much more can be said about the evening, but for now I hope you've enjoyed reading about the flavor of the lecture. It was tasty. Thank you, Steve, for all you shared. The audience was engaged throughout. We look forward to seeing you again at Duluth Dylan Fest.

Throwback Thursday: Titanic Reflections

“I think that he bought a ticket on the Titanic.” ~Moneyball

Last night I began watching A Night To Remember, the 1958 drama about the sinking of the Titanic. It brought to mind a variety of memories. Our friend Robert, a "street person" who lived in the Seaway Hotel here, had something of a fixation with regard to this tragedy. He'd watched this film many times. The film's power half lay in the fact that this event really happened, the invincible ship striking an iceberg and sinking on its maiden voyage. As I watched I was impressed at how quickly the characters were sketched, the story told. 

Bob Dylan's song about the Titanic centers around characters in the 1997 James Cameron film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. One theme of this story is hubris. In Greek tragedy, hubris is excessive arrogance or "defiance of the gods leading to nemesis." Dylan's telling of this story appears on the ninth track of his album Tempest. (You can read the lyrics here.)

When the Reaper’s task had ended Sixteen hundred had gone to rest The good, the bad, the rich, the poor

The loveliest and the best.

Here's what I wrote about the Titanic in 2012

It’s interesting how much the sinking of the Titanic has been woven into the fabric of our culture. Here I am watching Moneyball and one of the former baseball scouts who used to be on the payroll for Oakland is sniping at General Manager Billy Bean (Brad Pitt) for his new approach to the game of baseball. (the quote above.) It’s a perfect segue into a revisiting of Bob Dylan’s latest release Tempest.

The title song is a 45 verse recounting of the demise of the Titanic on her maiden voyage to New York. But this is not Dylan’s first reference to the 1912 tragedy in the North Atlantic. Many decades earlier he made an obscure reference to this same incident in his song Desolation Row, Highway 61 Revisited's capstone.

Praise be to Nero’s Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody’s shouting 
“Which Side Are You On?

Desolation Row is another of those lengthy classics Mr. Dylan shot up into the stratosphere of the Sixties, but the Titanic reference is little more than that here, a reference. This time around, on Tempest, it's a fourteen minute exposition.

Just out of curiosity I decided to Google the phrase Nero's Neptune to see what popped up. And guess what? It's another cool Dylan site that I'd been previously unaware of. Or rather, it's a site by a musician consciously influenced by Dylan. Though not a comprehensive site, for the Dylan fan it's worth exploring.

Here's a quote from that site pertaining to Dylan's influence:

Bob showed that lyrics are important, about equally important, as the music. That songwriting and poetic imagery can make you.

That certainly has to be a central piece of insight in understanding the longevity and pervasiveness of Dylan's influence.

For the record, Nero was a Roman emperor who persecuted the early Christian church. Neptune was the Roman name for the god of the sea. (The Greek name was Poseidon.) Another of the songs on Tempest is called Early Roman Kings. Another thematic echo? And here's another, from Slow Train Coming:

Sheiks walking around like kings, 
wearing fancy jewels and nose rings. 
Deciding America's future from Amsterdam and to Paris 

Early Roman kings? The Titanic sails at dawn. Apocalypse now.

Billy Bean purportedly said, "It's hard not to be romantic about baseball." The same can probably be said about the Titanic. In a more macabre manner, however.

* * * 

Related Links
In 2021 I wrote the following blog post:
Titanic: A Metaphor for Our Times
Schedule for 2022 Duluth Dylan Fest 

Last Chance for Bob Dylan to Take a Bite from His 80th Birthday Cake

The original cake, 24 May 2021.

Last year's Duluth Dylan Fest marked the beginning of a year-long celebration of Bob Dylan in St. Louis County, which encompasses both towns that young Bobby Zimmerman grew up in. With the exception of 2020, first year of the pandemic, the Duluth Dylan Fest team--along with friends and Dylan fans--has gathered in front of his first home to share birthday cake, listen to music and to mix.

When we packed everything up afterwards, a large central portion of the cake still remained uneaten. It was offered to me to preserve, which I dutifully took home, wrapped tight and placed in the freezer. Since it was Bob's birthday cake, I put the word out that it was rightfully his if he should desire to eat it or share it. 

Now it is May again, and another Duluth Dylan Fest approaches. Susie and I decided that it was time to give up on Bob contacting us for his cake. Last night we indulged a little in cake eating. Guess what? Susie doesn't care much for cake, but this one is delicious, she noted. 

The purpose of this blog post is to invite you to Duluth Dylan Fest, May 21-29. The Birthday Party is always in the afternoon at Bob's birth home, 519 North 3rd Avenue East. You can find the full slate of events here.

Here's what we have left of last year's cake, more abstract in appearance but as tasty as ever.

Nevada Bob Gordon's 50 Years with the Wrong Woman Is Now Available

“I don’t mind dying. I was more afraid of not living.”
~NEVADA BOB GORDON

Every once in a while you meet someone whose life stories are so unusual that they ought to be a book. Robert Gordon, whom we call Nevada Bob, just happens to be one of those people. This weekend his book has been released on Amazon.com and IngramSpark for worldwide distribution.

I think half the success of television is due to the manner in which it gives people a chance to get an inside look at lives different from their own. Hence the popularity of programs like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Magazines and books provide similar glimpses of places most of us will never go and the private spaces of people whom we'll never meet.

When I read the manuscript for 50 Years with the Wrong Woman, I couldn't believe how different this man's life experiences were from anything I'd known. (And I've had some book-worthy experiences myself.) This was one tough hombre. But he had a hilarious side, too. I mean, for Nevada Bob, life wasn't about being cool, or rich, but having fun. 

If you come away with anything, Bob is a storyteller. He's lived a life with such a variety of adventures, from Seattle beat cop in the Sixties to cancer survivor, gold assayer, cattle rancher and even a Nashville recording artist as a singer/songwriter. 

Nevada Bob and I. Photo G. Firstenberg.

What I really want to convey here, though, is that Bob Gordon is a character. When he visited Duluth with our mutual friend, photographer Gary Firstenberg, I gave them the Bob Dylan Places of Interest Tour. Everywhere we went we met people who found him engaging, uplifting and enjoyable to be around. 

I think that's what I liked about the book. Readers will engage this self-same Bob Gordon in his book. He's down to earth and over-the-top at the same time. He's a man with many friends, and all of them are eager to read his memoirs and reflect on his memories. And as the saying goes, "It's all true." He doesn't need to embellish things to keep them interesting. 

The book contains many life lessons as well, not the least of which is the value of resilience. There were so many places where Bob, his life having been derailed, could have given up. Instead, he chose to persevere, motivated by the woman he so loved.

50 Years with the Wrong Woman: The Life of Nevada Bob: Adventures with Family, Friends and Foes        TO PURCHASE CLICK HERE

Is It Real or Just Our Imaginations? 20 Quotes About Progress

"The doctor will see you now."

Progress is an interesting word. Has the human race been making progress? When we look at the breakthroughs in medicine these past couple hundred years, it's amazing. When a mad dog with rabies bit someone, the suffering was excruciating. Until Louis Pasteur.  

Just over two hundred years ago trained medical doctors used to "bleed" you. That is, they slit your wrists to get the bad blood out of your system. Sometimes they used leeches for the same purpose, or man-made devices designed to emulate them.

98 years ago Calvin Coolidge, Jr. got a blister on his toe while playing tennis. The toe got infected and the infection killed him. They didn't have Neosporin yet. In short, progress in the medical field has been remarkable.

On the other hand, look at the technological advances: space shuttles, microchips, thumb drives, microwave ovens, robotics, the Internet. 

Then again, is it progress that we have nuclear and chemical weapons that can wipe out the human race? Our track record as societies with regards to being able to get along makes one wonder if we might even be going backwards. Drug addiction and all forms of self-destruction abound in what is supposed to be an advanced "civilized" society.

So, the theme is progress. What's really going on? Here are 20 quotes to ponder, along with a few imponderables. 

QUOTES ABOUT PROGRESS

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

--George Bernard Shaw

Progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long.
--Ogden Nash

The Difficult is that which can be done immediately; the Impossible that which takes a little longer.
--George Santayana 

The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer.
--Fridtjof Nansen

We stand today at a crossroads: One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other leads to total extinction. Let us hope we have the wisdom to make the right choice.
--Woody Allen

Without deviation, progress is not possible.
--Frank Zappa

It's not so much what you have to learn if you accept weird theories, it's what you have to unlearn.
--Isaac Asimov

What we call progress is the exchange of one nuisance for another nuisance.
--Henry Havelock Ellis

Change is one thing, progress is another. Change is scientific, progress is ethical. Change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy.
--Bertrand Russell

Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress. 

--Thomas Edison

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. 

--Arthur Schopenhauer

The technology life cycle has three stages: Hype, disillusionment, and application. 

--Bob Lewis

The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.
--Edward Teller

All progress is based upon a universal, innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
--Samuel Butler

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
--George Santayana

The most damaging phrase in the language is, "It's always been done that way."
--Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

So much havoc has optimism wrought in this world that pessimism appears not only a legitimate way of looking at things but a moral duty.
--Christopher Spranger

Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.
--Fred Brooks

Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What we anticipate seldom occurs, what we least expected generally happens.
--Benjamin Disraeli

* * * 

Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows.

A Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Effort That You Can Be Part Of

May 22 Op-ed in The Bugle

When the Great Chicago Fire occurred in 1871, the smoke from that disaster was carried eastward with the wind. As it blew over West Virginia five days later, people wondered what had burned, assuming it was probably in Ohio, not two states further. Today, with social media and 24/7 news we can see events "as they happen" in every corner of the world, our our TVs, computers and phones.

As with many events resulting in human suffering--from tornadoes to earthquakes, floods and fire--something tugs at our hearts. Some pray, other give. Tom Betz from a Como Lake neighborhood in St. Paul, has created a "semi-postal" stamp to raise funds for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. What follows is the story Tom sent me to explain what it is and how to contribute.

The item you see pictured here is called a local stamp. As a member of a club that collects and issues local postage stamps I will be issuing the above stamp. As the stamp has two values on it one for postage and the “+” value it is called a semi-postal. This particular semi-postal is for a Ukraine Relief Fund. 

Countries around the world have a long history of both local stamps and semi-postal stamps. More information can be found by Google-ing “semi-postal stamps" or “US local post stamps." This is my attempt to support a Ukraine relief fund. Please contribute to help my effort.

Please send a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) along with a minimum contribution of $1.00 to:
Thomas D Betz
1337 Avon St
N. St Paul, MN 55117

If sending a check please make it payable to: 

Tom Betz Ukraine Relief Fund. 

You will receive the stamp featured here on your envelope, canceled by “Como Park Post."

 

This stamp and the fund is featured in the May issue of “The Park Bugle" (Como Lake community in St. Paul). The stamp and the fund will also be featured in the May issue of the local post collectors newsletter, “The Poster.” It can be viewed by contacting  editor@localpostcollectors.org. More information about the club can also be obtained at their website, https://www.localpostcollectors.org/.