For eight minutes of pure, unadulterated awesome, here’s Doc Severinsen, from his 1970 LP Doc Severinsen’s Closet, performing King Crimson’s “In the Court of the Crimson King.” No, this is not a hallucination, although it may represent some kind of ripple in the Matrix. Many thanks to Richard Metzger at Dangerous Minds for unearthing this, and to Joe Pulver for calling attention to it at Facebook. Metzger accurately conveys the feel of Severinsen’s cover when he describes it as “moving from an almost Morricone-like spaghetti western-sounding beginning” to an “(inspired) James Bond-ish bit (and back again).”
Personally, I have a soft spot for Severinsen not just because he’s a musical genius, and not just because I grew up during the era when he and his band were the house musical act on The Tonight Show during Johnny Carson’s tenure, but because in my former career as a video and media professional I was on the camera crew at The Grand Palace in Branson, Missouri, when Doc and the band came through town for a performance. (What? Doc Severinsen playing in Branson? No, really, there’s even newspaper evidence.) It was fully as cool as one would have hoped, and I even had a chance to chat with the band backstage. There was no “Crimson King” in their set, though. Which is probably for the best, since I strongly suspect this song would have melted the minds of that mostly Southern and Midwestern audience who had come to Branson mainly for country music and a big dose of manufactured nostalgia.
Mind-blowing—in the best way!
I’m not sure how I found myself here today, Matt. But I am glad I did. It’s weird to write to you here instead of Substack. It’s like running into an old friend in a place you didn’t expect to find him. I’ve been on an unplanned break from Substack for a while—thought I’d focus on other things. And while that meant missing out on your current, ongoing writing, I’ve had your book (Wellspring) to read if I should start to miss the writing of my online friend and favorite living writer.
Anyway, I don’t even know if you will see this comment, but I will leave it anyway.
I’m glad I came upon this particular post, which I found by clicking on the tag “Music” among all the tags/categories to choose from on TTB. I’ll peruse more of your music related content after this post.
I love your connection to Severinsen. What a cool experience for you. It makes me glad to read someone else write with that kind of enthusiasm about someone I have the fond memory of hearing, as I was growing up, while being blasted by my father—also a trumpet player, and a huge fan of Severinsen—on his stereo. Nothing lit him up like other well-known players such as Severinsen and Herb Alpert. In fact, I enjoyed hearing this piece so much, because it reminded me of some of my father’s most favorite trumpet pieces by Maynard Ferguson (a friend of Severinsen’s), which have subsequently become some of my favorite trumpet recordings. This particular recording (Crimson King) has such a similar vibe to much of Ferguson’s work… with that sort of epic vibe like you hear in Scheherazade or the jazziness of Birdland (probably my dad’s two all-time favorite trumpet recordings).
Metzger was spot on to compare the opening and returned-to sections in this piece to Morricone… something I could only agree with because of another gift of knowledge/awareness my father passed on to me… his composed film scores (mostly/namely, Once Upon a Time in the West).
Loved listening to this, as I’d never heard it before. Always, always, always a fan of whatever you write/share that is music-related. Your history and connection to the music industry alone will make your memoir (if you end up writing it, which I hope you do!) super interesting.
I have really missed your writing on Substack. I think soon I’ll be active there again… or at least actively reading there. Until that point in time, I’m so glad to have happened upon words/thoughts from your former self in a former place. I hope you are well.
It’s wonderful to hear from you, Georgia, and also to read your musical reflections. I had figured you were on a Substack break, and it’s something I respect. You may recall that I did the same for a few months last year. Certain things have been telling me that another such time of retreat may be germinating.
The reminiscence about your father is lovely. Thank you for sharing it.
You know how one’s personal past seems kind of dreamlike? That sense of “Did it really happen?” or “Was that really me?” or “It was so long ago, it feels like it was another person.” An element of that definitely attends my memories of that short span of years in my twenties when I spent my days with all those musical celebrities.
I hope you enjoy and make the most of your retreat.