Thursday, September 27, 2007

Phil Spector Walks?!


Over the past six months I have been totally obsessed with the Lana Clarkson - Phil Spector murder trial. Being a rock-music-obsessed child of the 1960s I was always a fan of Phil's. He was the millionaire boy genius of pop; the king of record producers, the short nerdy Jewish guy who got the Hollywood mansion and the hot shiksa wife, Ronnie, his superstar. Spector was a role model to many in the day, such as Stones' producer/manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Phil produced some of the most perfect records in pop history; including the Crystals' "He's A Rebel" and "Da Doo Ron Ron;" the Ronnettes' "Baby I Love You" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus;" and the Righteous Brothers' operatic epics "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and "Unchained Melody." His grand vision rescued the faltering Beatles' final 1970 album, Let It Be, where he crafted an expansive tour de force from run-of-the-mill demo tapes (compare a listen with McCartney's recent de-Spectorized Let It Be, Naked). Watching the trial I was torn between my admiration of Phillip and love of his work, and the fact that he may be a cold-blooded killer. I wanted to believe in his innocence.

Thanks to Dish Network's DVR set-top boxes, fast-forwarding, and Court TV, I was able to experience most of the trial in my living room. I ultimately came to believe that Phil Spector is guilty. There seems to be two Phil Spectors: "Phillip" the good - who is charming, funny, creative, generous, and smart - and "Phil," the evil one -- the belligerent, drunk, lying, threatening, gun-toting loudmouth. Over the months it became painfully obvious that he played a huge part in Lana Clarkson's demise. She met Phillip, and then when she wanted to leave, encountered Phil. Either he put the gun in her face and it went off - struggle or no struggle - or he just shot her, on purpose or accidentally. We may never know. Only two people know what transpired in that foyer that night on Feb. 3, 2003 -- and one is dead and the other is not talking.

As for Lana Clarkson - she was killed twice. First physically by Spector, and then by Spector's all-star defense team - who's central tactic was to totally degrade her as an actress and person turn her into a desperate suicide case. They called her a drunk, a drug addict and a loser. Instead, by the trial's end I felt I really got to know and like her, and even experienced her death as almost a personal loss. While she may have been a struggling 40-year old actress who had seen better parts, she regularly appeared as a cult attraction at comic book and sci-fi conventions for her fans from her Barbarian Queen days. (Yes, she had fans). In reality her last year of life had been spent recuperating from two broken wrists which sidelined her career for almost a year. Her wrist casts had only recently come off.

Compliments of the defense I met her friends and business associates (including her agent, and the director Michael Bay), heard her inner-most thoughts and fears via email and letters, saw lots of interesting photos of her in life (she was almost always smiling), learned all about her precarious personal finances, and even met her mother, who seemed to be the nice mom we all wish we had. Besides the gruesome crime scene photos and pictures of her autopsied bruised tongue (which Court TV did not show, but I found via the web - god bless the internet) we also saw Lana's recent self-produced promo DVD where she portrayed a wide range of comedic characters specifically for the benefit of casting directors. While the DVD's technical values seemed to be lacking (a fact overemphasized by the defense) it was nonetheless very impressive. One could imagine her as a character actress on a Tracey Ullman or Larry David show. And strangely, I learned we have all seen Lana Clarkson for years - as an anonymous actress in numerous films, commercials and print ads. At one point I stupidly thought, "if she were alive today she would be huge." But now, thanks to meeting Phil, she is big-time famous, dead, and a permanent part of Hollywood legend. She is buried near her idol, Marilyn Monroe.

At the trial we also heard from some of her "best friends forever," the most repugnant of them was Punkin Pie Laughton, a 40-something "club promoter." We all want best friends like her. She was the defense's key witness who pulled together their absurd suicide theory, claiming that in the months leading up to the shooting Lana had confided in her that she was extremely depressed about her life. But despite Punkin's statements about Lana's mental health, if true, she apparently did very little to help her "friend." Furthermore, months after the "suicide" Ms. Pie sent out a 2004 Christmas card which essentially said (sic) "Phil Spector took my Lana." When the prosecution questioned her about the card, she had no real explanation for her flip-flop. Yet she still insisted that Lana was ready to check out. Punkin (yes, that is her correct spelling) happens to work at a rock club, the Backstage Cafe, owned by the the two sons of Barney Kessel, the late guitarist and Spector friend. The sons have both maintained a very close family-like relationship with Phil their entire lives. Spector may even be an investor in their club. For more voyeuristic pleasure, go to Punkin's cluttered MySpace page. If you can read the text over the background photo, in it she claims to be 21, as well as professes to be the lead groupie on which the rock film "Almost Famous" was based upon. She includes photos of herself partying with many 2nd and 3rd tier rock celebrities, including Poison's C.C. DeVille and Lief Garrett. At the top she also writes: "Take a Moment to Remember "Lana Clarksen" Today and Always." Too bad she spelled BFF Lana's last name wrong.

Much about Phil's past was strangely absent from the trial. Where was his second wife Veronica, a.k.a. Ronnie Ronette, who wrote a book about their abusive relationship? or his other ex-wives? or the engineer who worked that John Lennon session when a drunken Phil fired a shot into the studio ceiling? And what about Leonard Cohen, who had a falling out with Spector while making Death of a Ladies Man in 1977. Leonard Cohen was allegedly threatened by a drunken, gun-toting Spector, and was later banned from the studio by armed bodyguards. He contends he was never allowed back to properly finish the album.

And where were the many other witnesses to Phil's tantrums and threats over the years? or his past arrest records for numerous assaults? Before the trial started eighteen women came forward with stories of being threatened with a gun to the face by Spector. Unfortunately Judge Fidler only allowed five of the women to testify.

The most important absentee was Phillip's long-time personal assistant, Michelle Blaine, who also has a close family-like history with Spector. Michelle Blaine is the daughter of Hal Blaine, the L.A. session drummer extraordinaire who headed The Wrecking Crew, the group of talented and prolific 1960's L.A. session musicians who were Spector's backup musicians of choice for many years. Following the shooting Spector spent :40 minutes in the house alone, cleaning up. The gun had obviously been wiped down and placed back in the "murder" scene; Lana's face was also wiped. Not a single call to 911 was ever made from inside the house, despite the fact that there were something like 14 working telephones. If someone accidentally shot themselves in your foyer, wouldn't you call the police immediately? Why would you start cleaning up? And what about the eighteen or so additional firearms found in the house? The jury was only allowed to hear about three guns - the ones which used the same caliber bullets that killed Clarkson. A large garbage bag of those same bullets was found in an upstairs bedroom. Hopefully they can subpeona Michelle at the next trial, which will either be the civil wrongful death suit or the murder retrial.

So in the end the jury was ultimately hung at 10 to 2 in favor of conviction. It all came to down to one juror, the Morman Foreman - the know-it-all engineer holdout who manipulated a second juror to take his stubborn beyond-any-doubt position. I guess the moral of the story (if there is one) is that if you have millions of dollars to spend on multiple attorneys and multiple forensic experts you can pretty much manufacture reasonable doubt in the jury room. Especially with five or so Medical Experts who each had a slightly different theory on the blood spatter. And all you need is one asshole. Also in LA I think people who are so closely aligned with the entertainment industry are reticent to convict one of their own. They still have to work.

As for Court TV, I have a lot of issues about the disjointed way they televised the trial. The first issue is: the trial was on the West Coast! Which means the court day does not get started in New York until almost 1PM and ran until 7PM. Why did they shorten the "Closing Arguments" show and give Star Jones the 4PM slot for her "talk show?" Her show is more about her than anything else and is a step down for Court TV. Everything important in the trial happened in the afternoon here in NY. So there was actually very little "live" coverage. Everything seemed to be broken up into short prerecorded "sound bite" segments, many of which were annoyingly played and replayed countless times. I was ready to shoot my TV whenever they ran their stock overview of the murder, which they must have shown over 500 times.

I did get to "meet" a lot of intriguing guests on Court TV's trial coverage: like Darlene Love, La La Brooks (the fabulous Crystal's lead singer), Annette Kleinbard (from the Teddy Bears), engineer Larry Levine, a few Spector biographers, neighbors, and even his children, including two of his adopted sons, and his smart biological daughter, Nicole. Even Phil's boisterous new wife, Rachelle, made an appearance. Strangely, not one of his recording artists made any appearances pro or con in the courtroom. I guess they still need their royalty checks from Phil - if they are lucky enough to get one.

But part of me can't help still admire Phillip, the Good Spector — not Evil Phil. Many of the songs he wrote and produced will live forever as a permanent part of American Culture. Just listen the that final cresendo in "You've Lost That Loving Feeling." Spectacular. (Anytime the film "Dirty Dancing" or "Ghost" is shown, Phil gets a check). But his artistic legacy does not allow him the right to take someone else's life.

I can't stop thinking about the refrain from an early 1970s, Spector-produced song by John Lennon: "How do you sleep?"

Friday, September 14, 2007

My Day (and night) at Farm Aid NYC


Despite my reservations about going back to Randalls Island I went to hear some good music on a warm sunny summer day and, just by my being there, to support organic, sustainable farming. Dave, my "On the Road" buddy from High School and I arrived there painlessly around 5 pm. We had to drive because Randalls Island, despite what they say, is really not that accessible without a car (unless you consider a subway and a $5 each way shuttle bus from 125th Street). It turned out that there was very little traffic despite the fact it was pretty crowded after all. Most of the people there were in their 20s-30s which was surprising for a show dominated by oldtimers, but OK.

The festival layout sucked; there were the expensive reserved seats in the front, and the general admission $52 ticket area (which became the $25 ticket area) was in the rear. And there was only one huge video screen for the masses to see the performers. But there was a whole bunch of food vendors with organic fare, like Angus Burgers, Vermont Flat Bread Pizza (excellent), Ben & Jerry's and others, along with the usual Philly Cheese Steaks and Funnel Cake (had some of that). There also were booths about organic farming and free samples of soy milk, organic snacks, yogurt and other stuff. A lot of beer was sold there as well.

The music was well worth the trip.  Warren Haynes was great; John Mellencamp and band were really good; you forget how many fine songs Mellencamp has written. The downside of his set was he gave a big speech about the war and Bush - which was preaching to the choir. Counting Crows were enjoyable although the singer is still annoying. I always loved that song "A Long December," which they did. Everyone performed about eight songs. And I almost forgot: the "great" Dave Matthews did an unmemorable acoustic set which fortunately gave us time to eat dinner. I just don't "get" him nor do I understand why he is so popular, especially with the dead-head-type crowd.

We stayed until the great Neil Young finished his set, the second to last of the day. He played an acoustic set with a his sister singing backup and playing guitar, another guitar player, and Neil. He did "Heart of Gold," "Four Strong Winds," "Too Far Gone (one of my favorites), and a bunch of other songs, some new some old. Neil played a lot of harmonica and surprising didn't wear his usual hat. He gave some inspirational speeches about local sustainable farming versus the big business farms who have to put all these chemicals in to make them profitable, when they are not only poisoning us, and poisoning the planet. Also he went on about how a lot of our fruits and vegetables are now imported from Chile or wherever, which means they have to be picked earlier and shipped here with giant ships or planes which use fossil fuels and pollute the water and air and cause global warming. He fully supports local sustainable small farms.

The single best thing there believe it or not was the Allman Brothers Band. They were awesome. Warren Haynes played slide with them and he is almost as good as Dwayne. They had at least two other guitar players as well including Derek Trucks. I was never a big fan in the day (I was at their first Fillmore East gig) but seeing them nowadays, live, you realize how much they kick ass and play with so much more skill and fire than 90% of these bogus groups today. They are truly exceptional. I can even almost forgive Greg for being a narc and ratting on his roadie in the 1970s (who went to prison for being his heroin deliveryperson) and for marrying Cher. (Greg was great though as a scary scumbag dealer in the 1992 movie "Rush." Check it out.)

We hung out on this "hill," in the tree line on the edge of the "bowl" where people were relaxed and smoking weed all day. We did not stay for Willie's set although he played throughout the evening on a song here and there with other artists. Despite the fact there were cops scattered throughout the crowd it was very mellow.

The weather was great... Shore breezes...you could see the rushing river... the city's twinkling lights... cars zipping by on the FDR... and the porta-pottys. The toilet "Porta-shit holes" were totally gross. I went in one, a super-sized porta-san for wheelchair access, and the floor was completely wet, and the entire toilet was filled to the brim with excrement and garbage. It seemed people were pissing all over the place. When I came out I said to the "kid" next in line "you don't want to go in there." He said he would piss on the wall if necessary, whicj explains the wet floor. Also, there were these portable hand washing stations which ran out of water at like 2 PM but still had soap. Unsuspecting concert-goers were soaping up and attempting to pump out some water, and then walking around pissed off with soapy, dirty hands. A sign would have been helpful.

And then there's the overall poop smell. Randall's Island is host to a large sewage treatment plant on one side which can be smelled all over the island. I am surprised they allow concerts there seeing as how horrible it is when the wind shifts, and the fact that smell is actually molecules from the cause of the smell floating in air. (FYI..Rikers Island also has one too.)

On the way out walking the long march in the darkness to the field where the car was parked there were street vendors selling all sorts of stuff like bogus Farm Aid T-shirts and Whippet balloons filled with Nitrous Oxide. They were right outside the parking lot within 20 feet of mounted policemen, who seemed more concerned with talking amongst themselves.

But overall, the afternoon and evening was fun but kinda of bizarre for old hippies like myself and Dave, who were at the original Woodstock Festival (I was 15 when Dave and I hitchhiked there... that's another story). Even if Farm Aid 2007 was a bit grueling time-wise and crowd-wise, six hours of smelling poop was easier than 3 days of starving and getting wet in the mud. (Remember: don't take the brown acid). In the end it seemed a pleasant time was had by all. You shoulda been there.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Don't Miss the 8th Annual Fort Greene Park Halloween Festival on October 27, 2007

A favorite Fort Greene tradition for children of all ages, this year's Fort Green Park Halloween Festival will take place on Saturday, October 27, 2007 from 12 noon to 3:00 pm.

As in past years, festival-goers will be treated to free hay rides, face painting, pumpkin decorating, games, and treats. Capping off the Halloween Festival is a children's costume parade, which will take place at 2:00 pm with prizes for the best costumes. In addition to the Halloween Festival, the local dog owner's organization, Fort Greene PUPS, will once again hold their popular annual Dog Costume Contest on top of the Fort Greene Park at 12:00 noon.

Local arts organizations supply much of the talent for the Fort Greene Park Halloween Festival's entertainment. For all of its eight years the Halloween Festival has been sponsored and organized by the all-volunteer Fort Greene Park Conservancy. The Conservancy works with local businesses and organizations to help sponsor the festival as well as staff booths and tables allowing them to introduce themselves to the community.

The Conservancy continues in its tradition of reaching out to all Brooklyn, with an array of free events and festivals, such as the 2007 Summer Film Festival and concerts in the park. Last year's Halloween Festival was made possible in part by the generous leadership gifts from Aguayo & Huebener Real Estate, BAM Local Development Corp., Brooklyn Properties, Clermont Armory, the Corcoran Group, and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

To volunteer for the festival or for sponsorship information email the Conservancy at info@fortgreenepark.org. View the website at http://www.fortgreenepark.org.

Halloween Festival 2007 logo design by Abby Weissman, 2007.