Now We Are Three

Requiem For A Friend
Marty Balin
30 Jan. 1942/27 Sept. 2018

Life is a thin thread
It’s a thin little hand on a hospital bed
It’s all the things you’ve left unsaid
Life is a thin thread
It’s a fine line between loving and not
Between holding it back or giving all that you’ve got
Feeling you’re free, thinking you’re caught
It’s a fine line
(Thin Thread by Connie Kaldor)

I was more than saddened the other day to hear of Marty Balin’s passing. Jack and I were in Northampton, Mass. at the Academy Of Music and we were just getting ready to do our sound check. I knew that Marty had been sick and I knew in a general way that he had grievous issues but I did not really know what they were. Marty always kept a lot of shade on himself. I stood there in the little room in the wings, stage left… struck dumb. What can you say? We always say and hear, ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ but what does that really mean? We say it. We have to say it and then in the confines of our hearts we try to process the sorrow and search for the words that really convey what we feel. It is an imperfect process.

Marty and I were young together in a time that defined our lives. Had it not been for him, my life would have taken an alternate path I cannot imagine. He and Paul Kantner came together and like plutonium halves in a reactor started a chain reaction that still affects many of us today. It was a moment of powerful synchronicity. I was part of it to be sure, but I was not a prime mover. Marty always reached for the stars and he took us along with him.

I always felt that he was somewhat guarded…the quiet one. Perhaps that’s because I was one of the noisy ones… I don’t know. It’s probably not for me to say. His commitment to his visions never flagged. He was always relentless in the pursuit of his goals. He wrapped those he loved in sheltering arms. He loved his family. Times come and go but his passion for his music and his art was never diminished. He was the most consummate of artists in a most renaissance way. I always felt that he perceived that each day was a blank canvas waiting to be filled.

It was fortuitous that we were able to stay connected in a loose way over the years. He and his friends graced our stage at the Fur Peace Station in Ohio and he was able to join us at the Beacon Theater in NYC the year we celebrated Jack’s 70th birthday.

Very good stuff!

Coming to grips with reality is a process that starts at birth. I am always stunned when one of my friends passes and yet, it would seem that at some point we will all take that journey. It’s almost like, ‘How can this be? There are things I need to say.’ There were indeed things I needed to say and the fault for that lack lies on me and me alone. I don’t think any of us really think that we will live forever yet often that thought lies dormant in the back of our minds. At my age my world is starting to be surrounded by passing. I will miss my friends who rest on the banks of the River Of Time and I am reminded to make the most of every moment as I am swept downstream! Marty’s passing reaffirms the power of love, the power of family, the power of possibilities.

So many of our brothers and sister from that time are gone. Skip Spence, Spencer Dryden, Joey Covington, Paul Kantner, Signe Anderson and now Marty have all joined the Heavenly Band as Rev. Davis would say.

We were young together. I would like to think we made a difference. As for Grace Slick, Jack Casady and myself…

Now we are three…



NEXT WEEKEND:
LAST SHOW OF THE SEASON WITH 8 REMAINING TICKETS
Tickets can also be purchased at    Blue Eagle Music    on Court St. in Athens or
by contacting Ranch Manager John Hurlbut (740) 992-6228, [email protected]

*  This show is NOT part of the Season Ticket package. If you wish to attend this show you must buy a separate ticket.*
BETTYE LAVETTE - Serves Him Right - Live @ Blue Note Milano
Customized, autographed copies available
NOW at the
Fur Peace Ranch   Company Store!
FREE     book signing open to the public
2pm-4pm  THIS SUNDAY Oct. 7th

Jorma's book will be on sale for $25.00 (list price is $29.99)






LOST WEEKEND RECORDS
(614) 268-8423
Last 2018 Workshop WITH AVAILABILITY
October 26-29, 2018
FROM BLUES TO CELTIC AND
APPALACHIAN STYLES
DADGAD Fingerstyle Guitar
Level 3
2019 Workshops with
LIMITED AVAILABILITY
May 3 - May 6, 2019
with Tom Feldman

STYLES I AM THE LIGHT OF THIS WORLD
Fingerstyle Guitar
Level 3

**ONLY 2 SPOTS REMAIN**
May 17 - May 20, 2019

SONGWRITING
ALL Levels


**ONLY 1 SPOT REMAINS**
August 23 - August 26, 2019

IT'S IN THE DETAILS
Fingerstyle Guitar
Level 3


**ONLY 1 SPOT REMAINS**
Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction
"Eve of Destruction" is a protest song written by  P. F. Sloan  in mid-1964.

Several artists have recorded it, including  The Turtles  who recorded it at first in their first album  It Ain’t Me Babe  earlier in 1965 but released it as a single only in 1970.

The most famous recording was by  Barry McGuire . This recording was made between July 12 and July 15, 1965 and released by  Dunhill Records . The accompanying musicians were top-tier LA session players:  P. F. Sloan  on guitar,  Hal Blaine  (of  Phil Spector ‘s “ Wrecking Crew “) on drums, and  Larry Knechtel  on bass. The vocal track was thrown on as a rough mix and was not intended to be the final version, but a copy of the recording “leaked” out to a DJ, who began playing it. The song was an instant hit and as a result the more polished vocal track that was at first envisioned was never recorded. McGuire also mentioned that Eve of Destruction was recorded in one take on a

Thursday morning (from words scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper), and he got a call from the record company at 7:00 the following Monday morning, telling him to turn on the radio because his song was playing. Thus, many radio stations refused to play it because of its anti-government lyrics. There was an upside to this controversy, however, as it sparked interest in the song, sending it to #1 in the US.

As stated, Eve of Destruction was written by P.F. Sloan, who was a 19-year-old staff songwriter at McGuire’s label and went on to form  The Grass Roots .

Years later,  reminiscing the day he wrote the song , Sloan says to have has a premonition, told to him by a voice in his head, who he claims had information that no one else had. Whilst he had originally written “think of all the hate there is in Red Russia” his inner voice told him that he should have written Red China, and that China whilst Russia would soon fall, China would continue engaging in crimes against humanity even into the new century. Sloan stated that he then wrote the letter as a prayer to God, to give him answers.

I have felt it was a love song and written as a prayer because, to cure an ill you need to know what is sick. In my youthful zeal I hadn’t realized that this would be taken as an attack on The System!
At first, the song was not well accepted by the critics. According to Sloan, the media headlined it as “everything that is wrong with the youth culture” and thought it was just something he had written to make money and not worth examining. They even accused him of being a “communist dupe”.
Sloan also credited his religious studies for giving him inspiration for this song. Born Phil Schlein to Jewish parents, he studied a branch of Judaism called  Kabbalah  not long after his Bar Mitzvah. The song, Sloan said, is essentially a conversation with God, with Sloan venting his frustrations over “this whole crazy world,” and God replying that he must move past it (“You tell me over and over and over again…“)

Speaking with the  Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles , Sloan explained:
“It’s an endless dance around this razor’s edge about what God is saying every time I sing this song. He’s telling me, ‘Don’t believe we’re on the eve, I’m not going to allow it.’ And then other times when I sing it, I get the message he’s going to allow destruction to happen. Every time I sing it, I get an insight into what’s going on.”

Lyrics contain several references to historical events:
  • “You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’ ” refers to the fact that in the US at that time men were subject to the draft at age 18, while at that time the minimum voting age (except in four States) was still 21, before a Constitutional amendment changed it in July 1971.
  • “And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’ ” refers to The War over Water.
  • The song’s reference to Selma, Alabama pertains to where the Selma to Montgomery marchesand “Bloody Sunday” had taken place in March 1965.
  • “You may leave here for four days in space, but when you return it’s the same old place” refers to the June 1965 mission of Gemini 4, which lasted just for four days.
  • “The pounding of the drums, the pride and disgrace” refers to the November 1963, John F. Kennedy assassination and his funeral, which featured muffled drumming as the casket was slowly taken to Arlington National Cemetery.

Analysis by Words in the Bucket.
TAKE YOUR PICK!
Golden Gate Mock Turtle Thumb Picks Large

~$4.00~
Golden Gate Thumb pick Multi-Color
Size Large

~$3.00~
Order these picks online by clicking their photos!
Psylodelic Gallery & FPR Company Store Hours

Wednesday-Friday
12pm-5pm

Also open during FPR Concerts

For private tours, call 740-992-2575
Fur Peace Ranch | 740-992-2575 | http://www.furpeaceranch.com/