A Window Above: Dazed and Confused

Song: "Dazed and Confused"
Writer: Jimmy Page (inspired by Jake Holmes)
Original Release: January 12, 1969
Band: Led Zeppelin
Album: Led Zeppelin

"Been dazed and confused for so long it's not true.

Wanted a woman, never bargained for you."

The greatest lyrics in rock 'n' roll.  You hardly need the rest of the song after an opening like that.



The story of authorship for this song is a complicated one.  In the end, it doesn't reflect well on what is probably my second-favorite band (after the Beatles, naturally).   A song called "Dazed and Confused" was first written by Jake Holmes, an American singer-songwriter, in 1967.  The British rockers The Yardbirds reworked a new arrangement for themselves.  Their co-lead guitarist at the time was Jimmy Page who, of course, went on to join Led Zeppelin.  The Zeppelin version includes new lyrics, including the one above, by lead singer Robert Plant (uncredited, interestingly).  In 2010, Holmes sued for copyright infringement.  He won an out of court settlement as well as the parenthetical writing credit indicated above.

Both the original Holmes and Yardbirds version are included below.  Holmes's claim is obviously genuine.  At the same time, there's no denying Plant's lyrics bring depth and dimension to the affair.





Want to hear all of the songs I have featured in a convenient playlist?

Enjoy: A Window Above

What are you listening to these days?

Squid Mixes: Gin Fix

A gin fix is simple enough: gin, lemon juice, sugar, water, lemon slice to garnish.  I got my recipe from Imbibe! by David Wondrich with an assist from The New York Bartender's Guide on the garnish.  According to Wondrich, the first historical record is a drink list from a Toronto saloon, dated 1856.  It's a refreshing drink, tasting exactly like what it is: gin and lemon.

A Window Above: Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi

Song: "Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi"
Writer: Tamio Okuda
Original Release: October 7, 1996
Performers: Puffy AmiYumi



I can't say I developed much affection for J-pop during my time in Japan but this song definitely left a mark.  For months, it was everywhere!  For whatever reason, I have particularly strong memories of hearing it in the checkout line at the grocery store.  Naturally, it was a karaoke favorite, too.  My affection is due in no small part to the Beatles strains heard throughout: "Day Tripper," "Please, Please Me," "Twist and Shout" and "She Loves You" among the more obvious.

In Japan, the enormously famous duo has always been known simply as PUFFY but in the United States, where they have also enjoyed moderate success, they go by Puffy AmiYumi so as not to conflict with Mr. P Diddy.  American cartoon fans would recognize them as the performers of the theme songs for both Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!  "Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi" was their second single.  It debuted at #1 on the Japanese charts, the first of three consecutive #1s for the ladies.  It is their best-selling single to date.

Want to hear all of the songs I have featured in a convenient playlist?

Enjoy: A Window Above

What are you listening to these days?

Squid Mixes: The Herald Punch

The Herald Punch was invented by Patsy Duffy, a bar owner in late-19th century New York.  He also wrote a tell-all autobiography devoted more to dirt on his famous patrons - John L. Sullivan, J.P. Morgan, Oscar Wilde and Tom Thumb among them - than any meaningful thoughts on mixology.  The Herald Punch, dedicated to the New York Herald newspaper, combines fresh orange juice, sugar, rye and rum.  I got my recipe, as well as the dish on Duffy, from Imbibe! by David Wondrich.

The drink is not so different in composition from the cold whiskey punch from a couple weeks ago.  The orange juice, though, allows for a more delicate and satisfying balance than the lemon juice.  Fortunately, we do not lack for oranges at the moment as we just got the delivery from our daughter's school band citrus sale.  Indian Grove: I'm pretty sure it's the same vendor we used back when I was in high school band. 

"Punches pack a wallop!" is my wife's review.  Historically, they were meant to, of course.  Thus the word?  Apparently not.  Punch as in hit is derived from the word pounce.  The word for the beverage, on the other hand, comes from Sanskrit: pança, which means five, as in five ingredients.  It is a word - and a drink - from England's imperialist legacy.

A Window Above: Tom Sawyer

Song: "Tom Sawyer"
Writers: Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Pye Dubois
Original Release: February 12, 1981
Band: Rush
Album: Moving Pictures



When I was in high school, I developed a theory not unlike Quentin Tarantino's Elvis/Beatles theory.  Basically people, by which I meant teenage boys, could be divided into two camps: Led Zeppelin people and Rush people.  The Led Zeppelin people could enjoy Rush just as surely as Rush people could enjoy Zeppelin.  But no one liked both equally.  It simply wasn't possible.  I was definitely a Led Zeppelin person.  It wasn't until much later that I truly learned to appreciate Rush.

The two groups are on a very short list of the most technically accomplished rock bands of all time, along with Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.  The Beatles wrote better songs.  The Stones, The Who and Queen had greater stage presence.  But if what you want is instrumental masters, there's no topping those four.

Rush, more than any of the others, is built from the bottom up.  Neal Peart, master of the toms, is legendary for the size of his drum kit alone.  Geddy Lee's is certainly one of rock's stranger lead voices but his bass work is beyond question.  Alex Lifeson is the rare lead guitarist who is overshadowed by his rhythm section but he's still plenty good.

And of course as always, I am a sucker for any and all allusions to the work of Mark Twain.

Want to hear all of the songs I have featured in a convenient playlist?

Enjoy: A Window Above

What are you listening to these days?

On the Coffee Table: Eric Felten

Title: How's Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well
Author: Eric Felten

Learning more about cocktails is a central piece of my stated mission for the blogging year.  How's Your Drink? is the second non-fiction book I've read recently on the subject.  Whereas the quest of David Wondrich's Imbibe! (reflection here) is authentic history, Felten's book is more free-wheeling.  Felten still includes plenty of history but he explores broader topics, too: liquor-related scandals, drinks and gender, drinks and the military, drinks and the holidays and, soberly, drink and addiction.  While I would give Wondrich the win for likely accuracy, Felten's book is more fun.

Most enjoyable for me are the many film and literature references.  Predictably, James Bond gets lots of love.  007's tastes are much mocked by cocktail enthusiasts but there's no doubt author Ian Fleming inspired many of those same enthusiasts with the ink devoted to the vodka martini and the Americano.  The gimlet plays a starring role in Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye.  There are a couple references to The Thin Man, one of my wife's favorite movies, including Nick's advice on cocktail shaking: "Always have rhythm in your shaking.  Now, a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry Martini you always shake to waltz time."

Felten comes from a family of jazz musicians so not surprising that the music world gets its due.  The bar blender, without which frozen daiquiris and margaritas would not exist and Jimmy Buffet would have lacked a clever rhyme, was marketed and popularized by Fred Waring, a Jazz-Age bandleader.  Unfortunately, this same squealing blender has been the bane of existence for musicians playing in bars ever since.

It's a fun read.  I am glad to have read both in succession as I now feel well-equipped to drone on Cliff Clavin-style about cocktails to whomever will listen.  I'll be trying Fenten's recipes, too.  Stay tuned.

Squid Mixes: Old-Fashioned Whiskey

The old-fashioned was, for a long time, the king of cocktails.  As it contains many of the same ingredients as my personal favorite, the Manhattan, I've been wanting to give it a try for a while.  However, I have had to avoid the drink for what I consider to be a highly amusing reason: my wife doesn't like having sugar cubes around the house.  Too tempting for snacking.

Most modern old-fashioned recipes (oxymoron?) involve sugar cubes, you see.  Put the cube in the bottom of the glass, add a little water and bitters, muddle to dissolve the sugar before adding everything else.  Why a cube?  It's an easily controlled quantity, usually 3/4 tsp - an annoying amount to have to measure.  Older recipes don't involve cubes which is handy for my house.

My recipe came from Imbibe! by David Wondrich.  It combines the sugar (1/2 tsp) and water with whiskey, Angostura bitters and lemon peel.  For those keeping score at home, the basic change in a Manhattan is the use of vermouth as a sweetener in place of the sugar.  No shaker or mixing glass involved - an old-fashioned is prepared right in the serving glass.  The recipe specifies leaving the spoon in when serving, presumably to stir in any undissolved sugar.

It's a lovely drink but you'd better like your whiskey.  My wife described it as "bracing."  Wondrich also includes brandy and gin options in the text.  Might be worth trying sometime.

So, why did the old-fashioned fall out of favor?  The preparation is rather fussy compared to younger concoctions.  But Eric Felten blames John Updike.  In his book How's Your Drink? (review soon), Felten makes the case: the old-fashioned is the drink of choice for Janice Angstrom, the protagonist's alcoholic wife in Rabbit, Run, Updike's breakthrough novel.

I guess Janice liked her whiskey.

Drink responsibly, friends.