The Giant Panther

I can remember seeing Jill Sobule warm up Del Amitri at an Allston, MA club known as Local 186 at the time, on March 31, 1995. Long time Bostonians will remember that hallowed ground as Bunratty's. This club was a fixture on the local Boston rock scene for decades when it all came crashing down on August 1, 1987 when a 23 year old bartender named Abel Harris was gunned down trying to calm down a Quincy, MA man named James Wallace who apparently was packing heat. I know this makes me sound unbelievably naive, but I don't know anybody who carries a gun. I hope I never do. If you believe Anderson Cooper and CNN these days the drug cartels are making inroads to a town near you. Just put that on the pile of things our newly crowned President has to tackle. So you want to be President huh? No thank you. I Wanna Blog, Yeah! You know things are bad when you are quoting Twisted Sister. Oiy. I gotta get a life. Oh, and life is the sentence Mr Wallace rightly received in case you are interested. It's a very sad story to be sure.

Regarding Bunratty's things were obviously never the same there. The club became another in a long line of clubs in Boston that either changed hands frequently or closed often to remodel and or reinvent itself. The space had been predominantly a rock & roll biker bar since the early 60's. A pool table, darts, cold drafts and Rock & Roll kind of place. Frank Zappa played there. So did Bruce Springsteen. Aerosmith. Get this; Frank Sinatra even played there. That is a rich history. The acts were toned down considerably after the shooting and, blaming the "fade" of the rock genre, Local 186 as it was now known, closed and reopened as the Wonder Bar in the early 90's featuring nightly Jazz. I don't want to offend, but sometimes I think it's no surprise that the word Jazz has multiple "Z's" in it. I'm sure the club does better now with it's open faced kitchen and a more well to do crowd in tow, but I wonder what would have happened without the tragedy. To be fair the best rock space around the Allston-Brighton area left is probably Harper's Ferry and they have to really mix it up to remain financially viable in this market. I saw Leslie West of Mountain fame there not four years ago or so and what a treat that was. That, my friends, was a good old fashioned butt kicking rock show. What an assault. West is one my blues guitar heroes no doubt. Mountain was so much more than Mississippi Queen. I trust some of you folks out there know this. Great band.

Know why I love blogging? Because I didn't come here to talk about the history of the edifice known as 186 Harvard Avenue in Allston at all! The truth is I came to admit that I am a pre 1977 Chicago fan. Whew! Glad I got that off my chest. Let the wisecracks begin. I used to subscribe to a magazine called Tracks which I thought was excellent at the time. The subscription morphed into Paste Magazine when Tracks went under so I'm not sure which magazine actually sent me the free CD that introduced me to the song I'm about to introduce to you. Classic Rock Magazine sends me a new one every month now too. Most of the time I never even get a chance to listen to them I'm embarrassed to say. I've got a massive collection and as I have noted previously I am in the process of digitizing this lumbering giant. There are only so many hours in any given day that you can sit correcting files so they all look uniform. I am a bit of a Grammar Nazi and I just can't deal with "01's" the way iTunes would have you accept them. I'm guessing I received the mixed artist CD with Cinnamon Park on it about five years ago now. The CD on which the song Cinnamon Park officially appears, Underdog Victorious, was released in September of 2004 so I'm guessing I received it around that time. I know I'll catch some flak for liking this song, but so what. I sometimes enjoy mash ups and sampling. I liken this single to Kid Rock's song last year mixing Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama and Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London called All Summer Long. Kid Rock is much reviled, but for some reason I don't mind him. Trailer park rock. It's very funny to me. I honestly feel like he's paying homage more than he is ripping these artists off to further his career. He's a look at me David Lee Roth type, but to each his own I say. Rock can always use more humor in my book. Sorry GP! I see you cringing! I can just feel some serious Giant Panther eye rolling about now...

OK, I know I'm running long here. The bottom line is when I first saw Jill Sobule I thought, eh, another singer songwriter. Let the record reflect though that Jill Sobule Kissed a Girl long before Katy Perry for what that's worth. When I got this CD and heard Cinnamon Park, which is a rearrangement of Chicago's Saturday in The Park (a song I still love with great fondness as a reminder of my youth) with her own twist, I liked it instantly. It's kitchy, nostalgic, a fun story and I really admired her for trying it. It's in my iPod like device and I always seem to cheer up or remember some fun Saturday in The Park, as it were, when I hear it. She's got a sexy voice and has built a nice career for herself in a challenging environment. Congrats Jilly Sue, you've been blogged. Hope you like it.