Senseless Destruction??? by Peter Reum

The thought has occurred to me the last 25 years that perhaps as a species, humankind has a closer resemblance to lemmings than we want to admit. Granted that the news as reported in this world seems to focus upon the most negative types of human behavior, such as war, environmental destruction and debasement, wanton violence in civilian life, allowing others to starve or be taken ill by  water that is teeming with parasites and disease causing microbes, and so many more issues than can be listed here. Revolution in seed development has resulted in more food  being harvested than at any time in human  history. Holy books, like the Bible, Koran, and Vedic Scriptures are taken literally when such scriptures were written to serve  a given population of believers who lived from 200 years ago-The Book of Mormon to nearly  5000 years ago-The Torah and some Hindu sacred texts.

Why do we attach such significance to these scriptures on a literal (sometimes called "fundamentalist") basis? I would submit that the uncertainty of agricultural yields brought a need for the attribution of powers that transcend  day by day human existence being placed with beings of a powerful and unpredictable relationship to humans to give meaning to the various calamities that beset human beings and are unexpected.

That being said, it is evident that as a species, we also have the capacity for self-reflection that makes our ability to put aside our personal opinions and allow other human beings to have their own opinions, even if their insights are somewhat primitive. When things get out beyond a reasonable level,  researchers have to consider that the conclusion, however the results as yielded appear to be against conventional wisdom.

The conflict between people who value tradition versus innovation often becomes the main block between conservatives and progressives. For people who are scared by the prospect of change, fear of change often becomes an unstated yet common emotion that brings uncertainty to the various change related decisions being considered. If fear of change is a commonality in most decisions by conservatives, it would be natural that they want only conservative positions to have a long term favorable outcome.

When we consider the more progressive aspects of a given decision, the rationale given for progressive changes are often attributed to people left without services for the given problem. This leads to the emotional campaign for services or opportunities that often defines the new population to be served. Life problems that this sort of campaign addresses are often brought to the attention of progressives. The problem being targeted may be clogging a given service system, or that the number of people being eligible for the new service is vastly underfunded despite the estimates that were made.

The simpler explanation is that cost-effectiveness is often confused with cost-effenciency. As an example, there might be a new medication approved that seems to help life-threatened patients to  stay alive for a few more years beyond the common length of the illness. In this example, the expensive treatment modality may be cost-effective because of the extra few years such intervention offers to terminally ill patients. Conversely, certain medical condition payers may conclude that the proposed treatment modality for the terminal patient is not cost efficient due to the level of additional medical services needed that accompany the new treatment modality.

The decisions made can be helpful for a given patient, but detrimental to a health services provider's budgetary bottom line. The most common method of resolving such dilemmas has been to establish a process by which a given patient's treatment plan is reviewed blindly by a board of professionals who decide how a patient will be treated. As an example, the organization that is fulfilling this function in Montana is called Mountain Pacific Quality Health. The fear of so called "death committees" is unreal with respect to them having the sole responsibility of deciding who lives and who dies. The use of extraordinary medical interventions to save lives is often the role of the primary physician who will decide what interventions are possible or realistic

Another role in society that creates problems is whether the person who murders one or many innocent community members is fit for trial by his or her peers. In a number of countries around the world, nations have decided by citizen feedback or referendums to eliminate the death penalty as a sentence for citizens convicted of murder. In other nations, or in the USA, some jurisdictions have the belief that the death penalty is a necessary option in the judicial process for what might be termed "aggravated circumstances." In the USA, some states routinely consider the death penalty as an option for punishment. Perhaps the most active state allowing capital punishment is Texas. Oklahoma is another state that routinely reviews whether the circumstances of aggravated murder would justify capital punishment.

The precedent for decisions about whether the death penalty is appropriate due to aggravated circumstances is based in  the details of the murders committed and whether there were especially egregious methods that are present  that make the killings especially heinous. A common example is the Nuremberg trial of people who implemented the orders of Nazis
responsible for the coordination of the mass murders of Jews, people with disabilities, gay and lesbian persons, and so forth.

The issues  regarding decisions about life and death are particularly emotional in the medical treatment of newborns and children. Around the world, the innocence of young girls and boys is weighed against the probability of survival. Countries with elevated levels of childhood death in comparison to their state of the art of medical practices are especially reviled for their per capita rate of childhood deaths if they are otherwise technologically advanced.  In some especially cruel nations, use of violence against dissenting citizens is considered to be a routine method for eliminating "those who threaten the state." Historically, this form of elimination of those who threaten the state has been employed in countries labeled Communist, dictatorships, and totalitarianism.

The use of extraordinary medical interventions has been especially  controversial as the state of the art in keeping seriously injured patients alive has become more improved. Infants born to mothers who are arguably being kept alive without a probability of surviving solely for the purpose of saving the baby's life are ahe n example of heroic intervention that may result in the child being orphaned or raised by foster parents. The growing consensus of the foster care and/or child adoption agencies is that the death of the mother is not a sufficient reason in most developed nations for allowing a baby to die.

The use of methods of interviewing suspects in a murder case needs to be examined as a potential example  of how a given member of a minority group could be victimized by authorities through mistaken identity and jailed unfairly for many years.
It is quite an unfair disposal of a murder suspect's constitutional rights to a jury of his or her peers, with an assumption of guilt regardless of mitigating factors. The attending consequences of such a mistake are profound. Once again, the possibility of a minority group member being prisoned wrongfully builds mistrust in the judicial system among minority groups.

As can be seen in the examples cited, the building of trust between conservatives and progressives  is perhaps the most important challenge facing our country's democratic form of government.  If the distrust between those who believe that solving our country's imperfections and those who believe in the retention of our country's democratic government in it's current form without change, our dilemma as a nation divided will remain, with both groups blaming each other for the persistent dysfunction of our nation. This cannot continue to happen. Consensus building is desperately needed, with support coming from the conservatives and progressives for meaningful change.

Copyright 2018 by Peter Reum--All Rights Reserved

Favorite Compilations 1: The Beatles 1967-1970 by Peter Reum

There are young people these days whose knowledge of Rock Groups from the Sixties and Seventies rock is minimal. Some young people have heard variations of hip hop, but are unfamiliar with Sixties and Seventies soul and rock music. My youngest boy and girl are more acquainted than most families, but that is because I have played music to them periodically since they were two and three years old.  The picture that I see with my kids is an attempt to show them as many forms of music as I can in a matter of a few years.

I am fully cognizant of the trends that have come and do my best to not judge the music played. There is a portion of those
music albums that for me are not listenable. I think with careful selection and closely held opinions of various artists that the kids of these days should be exposed to only a few genres or eras of popular music, jazz, roots, country, or critic's pet artists. The Beatles are nearly secular saints in the world of popular music. They grew as artists in a way they had to, because the road became an untenable choice for them. When asked why their touring ceased, their consistent answer was that the crowd noise was so loud that they could not hear themselves over the monitors onstage.

The group began 1967 as a studio entity, recording the Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever double 'A' sided single. The two tunes could have been released on the Sgt. Pepper album, but the two marvelous tunes were issued in February 1967, not appearing on Sgt. Pepper. The history from that point until the two singles were issued from the Let It Be album in 1970 reflects unhindered growing sophistication in the compositions the group released as singles or on albums. Those of us who were raised in the Fifties and Sixties were exposed to music that reflected the period's upheaval, but which often was innovative enough to be timeless. Of course, Beatle music is of that genre, beloved by at least three generations of listeners.

Beatles at EMI 1969

Back Cover Track Listing

Customized Record Label Sides 1 and 3-Note Green Apple

Customized Record Label Sides 2 and 4-Note Sliced Apple

Example of Record Storage Liner-Customized Blue with Lyrics

The fact about most greatest hits or best of compilations is that there are usually several tracks that are "duds." An example would be the Best of the Beach Boys album's released  in 1966 by Capitol Records. Instead of combing the vault for the REAL Best of the Beach Boys, Capitol haphazardly released an album that had several legitimately great tracks,  with a selection of what can only be called "ringers." Perhaps underwhelming is a suitable classification for 40% of the Best of the Beach Boys series of three albums.

While the Beatles double cd sets 1962-1966 (the red set) and 1967-1970 (the blue set) are both uniformly excellent, my favorite has always been the blue set. The program begins with the 1967 double "A" sided single Strawberry Fields Forever b/w Penny Lane, both recorded during the sessions for the Sgt. Pepper album. Like many Beatle singles, the sides are written primarily by John Lennon (Strawberry Fields) and Paul McCartney.  The sound is excellent, a treat for those who wear headphones when listening.

Some Beatles Looking for the Best Compilation of Their Work

The program continues with four selections from the Sgt. Pepper album. The title track leads the selections, followed by With a Little Help From My Friends, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, and Sgt. Pepper's epic closing track, A Day in the Life. Listeners can most likely argue about the songs that were pulled from Sgt. Pepper, but for my money, the four songs placed on the set are the ones that are most popular, and had the greatest radio exposure. All of them have been labeled as a peak in songwriting and production.

I'd like to digress just for a moment to offer my opinion on Magical Mystery Tour as released in the UK, and the longer album from the USA. I will categorically state that the USA Magical Mystery Tour album is the ONE altered album for the USA market that plays through from start to finish with no hiccups or sore thumbs. All You Need is Love is a single that was placed on the USA version of Magical Mystery Tour. The song is one of the great Beatle sing along tunes. It seemed to summarize the era of hippies, psychedelics, and free love in a manner that could serve as both a theme for that period, and as a tune that also seemed to signal it's death knell. The second song on side 2 of the original l.p. set is I  Am the Walrus. This tune may include some of John Lennon's most innovative psychedelic lyrics. The overall feel of the record is that it is one of the definitive Beatle Summer of Love songs, and that it is the psychedelic peak in songs from that era. Hello Goodbye is simply one of the best Beatle tunes about confused communication from the psychedelic era. The Fool on the Hill brings a succinct overview of the average person's experiences with being overstimulated by the everyday experiences he or she is exposed to. The trip the Beatles took to India grew out of the group's need to learn to cope with their busy lives and emotional stress from consistently being expected to top their last album or single.

The last four tracks on the first cd highlight The Beatles as a great rock band. They play these songs loud, and use many of the tricks that later became staples of hard rocking Seventies bands. The title track of the British double ep set and the great album that followed the Sgt. Pepper album in the United States uses Ringo's drums in a manner that was later used by other bands who rocked their asses off. The three remaining tunes are either 'A' or 'B' sides of singles from late 1967 well into 1968. These songs are Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, and Revolution.  Lady Madonna, although credited to Lennon and McCartney, is mostly a song of Paul's. The piano style here is barrelhouse, bringing somewhat of a Fats Domino style of playing forward. The piano is the main instrument, offering a more rhythmic style of play.  Paul also is the main author of Hey Jude, which was inspired by a talk Paul had with Julian Lennon, John's son with Cynthia, his first wife. The tune, minimally masks Julian's name, changing it to Jude. The song's sympathetic yet upbeat theme made it a favorite on both sides of the Atlantic. The tune listed twice as long as singles up to that time, forever breaking the unwritten rule that no single 'A' side should exceed three to four minutes in length or it would not be played on radio station's play lists. Revolution,  sometimes known as Revolution #1, brought back an exhilarating, loud and bold sound to the group's rocking reputation, ensuring that the Beatles were not stuck with an MOR
reputation after some singles that were more soulful or softer sounding, making listeners question if the Beatles had forgotten how to play loud and serious rock and roll. After Hey Jude and Revolution, the Beatles were never thought of as anything but a great rock band.

The second record in the original package is also excellently compiled. Side 3 on the vinyl original issue and the second cd's beginning commences with the tongue in cheek tribute to Chuck Berry and The Beach Boys, Back In the U.S.S.R. This is a favorite of mine being a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fan, and I love the way it combines the Chuck Berry type of rocking music, with the lyrics on the song's bridge sounding like Mike Love's original lyrics for California Girls. George Harrison steps into the limelight with While My Guitar Gently Weeps in track 2. For this tune, Harrison brings Eric Clapton in to play lead guitar, and the lyrics to the song are derived from Chinese and Tibetan philosophy. This particular song is, for me, the tune that foreshadowed the incredible All Things Must Pass George Harrison solo lp set. Ob-La-Di/Ob-La-Da follows All Things Must Pass, and for me is the clinker in this set of songs. It has that characteristic of being cute once or twice, and then just being irritating. The next Paul McCartney tune, Get Back, is somewhat of an iconic song, as it was recorded live on the Apple Building's roof, which is well documented as the last time the Beatles played before an audience. The concert nearly paralyzed the section of London next to the Apple Building. Billy Preston, organist on the session, is credited on the single's label. Don't Let Me Down, primarily a John Lennon song, foreshadows Lennon's solo work during the Plastic Ono Band period of Lennon's solo career. The track was solely a John and Paul recording, with Paul helping on drums. Lennon's guitar line is simple, but dignified. The reference to Jesus in the lyric caused some USA radio stations to boycott the single.  Old Brown Shoe was the "B" side of Ballad of John and Yoko, composed by George Harrison. The song is a sophisticated song which Harrison believed was one of his best compositions with The Beatles. The tune shifts keys several times during the record, and has been well regarded critically by rock critics. It was cut during the preliminary Abbey Road Sessions.

Beginning Side Four of the vinyl 1967-1970 edition, and hitting the middle of the second cd's program of songs, Here Comes the Sun is regarded almost universally as a George Harrison masterpiece. The Beatles, minus John Lennon, cut the tune with Eric Clapton. The session is notable for being another collaboration between Harrison and Eric Clapton. This is most likely the second most covered Harrison tune by other artists. It is iconic.  The program continues with Come Together, a second tune from John Lennon indicating his frustration with The Beatles as a group, and hating the gossip about Yoko Ono which often portrayed her in an unfavorable light. For the record, I believe we might not have had much if any music from John if Yoko Ono had not encouraged him to create. Something is George Harrison's signature composition, and is the single most covered song that the Beatles recorded. Artists worldwide found that Something was and is a classic love song unmatched in Beatle history. Octopus's Garden offers a Ringo Starr lead vocal which lends a zany and whimsical feeling to the tune. The song is the second song Ringo ever wrote and is called 'excellent' by George Harrison in interviews from that time.

Let It Be is a ballad that is almost universally loved and prized by Beatle listeners around the World. Brian Wilson has been quoted as saying he plays the song whenever he needs to "chill out and relax." The Let It Be album version has strings added by Phil Spector which were removed by Paul McCartney for the revised Let It Be Naked album. Across the Universe has a long history with the version for the World Wildlife Fund being less exposed than Lennon's version on the Let It Be Album. The version on the Let It Be album incorporates some revisions which perhaps make the song more accessible to listeners. The Long and Winding Road is also present on Let It Be with strings by Phil Spector. The Let It Be Naked version does away with Spector's strings. The listener may have to listen to both versions to decide.

There it is, my all purpose, all weather set of songs from 1967  through 1970 as compiled by Apple Records.  It is the
most satisfying listen as a compilation. Of all of Beatle reissues this is a must listen compiled by several Beatles, which makes the 1967-1970 compilation soar as promised, which also foreshadows many future solo albums made by individual Beatles.

Text is copyright 2018 by Peter Reum - All rights reserved. Album artwork in this article is copyrighted by Apple Records.

Review: The Words and Music of Brian Wilson Author:Christian Matijas-Mecca by Peter Reum

Review of The Words and Music of Brian Wilson

Christian Matijas-Mecca, Author

By Peter Reum 

The Words and Music of Brian Wilson

By Christian Majitas-Mecca

The history of books covering biographic material regarding Brian Wilson has been hit and miss. Certain books have hit the target admirably, such as David Leaf's Beach Boys and the California Myth, Heroes and Villains by Steven Gaines, Timothy White's exceptional multi-generational book on the Wilson and Love families, Peter Carlin's biography of The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson, the excellent Jon Stebbins book on the life of Dennis Wilson, and Paul Williams' overview of the music of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. The recent "assisted autobiographies" of Brian Wilson and Michael Love add irreplaceable first person recollections of two Beach Boys whose perspectives differ at times from each other. Also the coverage of the first years of The Beach Boys' career by James Murphy is a comprehensive book  written about The Beach Boys' early career. 

Books about Brian Wilson are always incomplete up to the time they are published, because Brian Wilson is still creating great music and playing concerts with his excellent band. The most recent biography of Brian Wilson is focused on his artistic output instead of the drama that usually accompanies any author's perspective on Brian's musical output. Christian Matijas-Mecca, a person whose career has been dedicated to music and dance both academically, and in performance is a native of the South Bay section of Los Angeles and is familiar with what the area's influence was for The Beach Boys, and the dramatic change in demographical composition that has taken place since The Beach Boys' exit from the area to other parts of California's Southland.   

The best books addressing Brian Wilson's music have been those that skip the melodrama and get right to the music that Brian has created as a Beach Boy and a solo artist.  For too many years, criticism of Brian's music has been filtered through an opaque filter that either shades it by giving him a free pass due to his mental health or by evoking some sort of savant theory. In the latter scenario,  Brian is presented in a manner similar to someone with autism who can play any song on the piano that he is asked to play perfectly on his first try without delay. 

Obviously, neither of these situations remotely present Brian in valued and important roles that he has demonstrated as a young man and as an adult who has been responsible for three families, his parents and brothers, his first wife and their two children, and the family he has currently with Melinda Wilson. 

The approach taken by Mr. Majitas-Mecca has the luxury of writing about Brian and his music with nearly sixty years of perspective in looking backward. The ability to focus on the music is useful in that Brian spent roughly 25 years as a Beach Boy, and 30 years as an artist performing with a selection of accomplished musicians he hand selected. There is something refreshing about being able to look back without having to qualify one's criticism and not having to make explanations for any reason. Suffice to say, there are enough books about anything except the music Brian composed and produced. There will be arguments over the decades as to who was the finest songwriter, recording producer, arranger, lyricist, innovator, live performer, AND people...learned people, working folks, other musicians, and scholars will vigorously debate their strong opinions.

Mr. Majitas-Mecca has the advantaged position of being the latest scholar to tackle the complex story of Brian Wilson's life and music. Personally, I envy his timing. His outlook is the freshest, and he is one of those people who somehow understands Brian's music and life narrative. This is becoming a rare approach, as folks who like to read about men and women in a biographical light, often prefer People or US Magazine's gossipy content. This biography is one that is sympathetic but not fauning. It is very apparent that the author has listened closely to Brian's music and has done a thorough review of the literature spanning at least 45 years.

My criticisms of this volume are general, and not necessarily directed at Mr. Majitas-Mecca. Scholarly publishing houses like Praeger have thematic series which often have very structured formats with fairly strict guidelines as to length, illustrations, and source citation. It appears to me that Mr. Majitas-Mecca was under some contractual limitations regarding this book. There are no illustrations,  with the emphasis centering on a thorough review of previous books and articles being the important research emphasis. This is evidence of an exhaustive literature review with excellent footnotes and clarifications throughout the book.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the author's deep interest and affection for Brian Wilson and his music. In reading the book, it was apparent that Mr. Matijas-Mecca explained not only the details in Brian's life that impacted his music favorably or deleteriously, but what music of Brian's in his Beach Boys years and solo career was significant to him as the author critically. His book is a very welcome addition to my music library.

Copyright 2018 by Peter Reum- All Rights Reserved. 

A Matter of Conundrums by Peter Reum

A Matter of Conundrums

Your mind can fool you, delusions here

Wishing that conundrums would clear

Situations like Chinese puzzles appear

Hoping that some easy answer is near 

Have one near whose advice you'd trust

Getting a road to travel is a must

It's a wilderness waiting to traverse

Predation is plausible-thoughts adverse

Common sense is bandied about
Higher learning is helpful no doubt
No person would refuse wisdom because
Humans attempt to trump nature's laws

Crazy Horse advocated looking ahead
Seven generations so that in our stead
A sense of respect for our Mother Earth
Keeping  safe the next generation's births

The profit motive is something to behold
A person cannot keep his mind off gold
Fortunes are made, fortunes are lost
$ aren't important if your soul is the cost

Copyright 2018 by Peter Reum
All rights reserved

Opioids: We Didn't Sign Up For This by Peter Reum

The trip to my post office box today began like every other day. The contents were like every day.....except for a Time Magazine that had a cover I looked at and made me do a double take. You see, my last job before I retired was as an inpatient substance abuse counselor. Of all the therapeutic and rehabilitation psychology jobs that I have passed through in my life, this job was the most rewarding and bittersweet. To be candid, one of the steps I resolved to take was that I had to leave the field behind completely after eight years doing substance therapeutic counseling.

What made my reaction so strong was the depth of tragic misery and sadness that chemically dependent people experience. Chemical dependence therapy is unusual. Generally, the type of therapy I did was an experience of an intense and time limited nature. Because our funding source was public, it was limited to roughly a little over five clients a month. In the years that I worked in this capacity, I heard a little under 2000 stories.

There were some common threads across all the people I worked with. The first was that the folks I counseled were completely unable to manage their lives. The second was that their health was so poor that further use of the various chemicals  would kill them. A third was that they had virtually no friends or relatives who would help them....their habit had made their best friend a chemical, one that was totally demanding. Their "friend" would avenge being ignored by making the addict miserable even unto death.

The issue of Time featured several areas around the United States that have epidemic levels of opioid use with frequent deaths and hospitalizations. The Time Magazine, dated March 2, 2018, showed in pictures what it would take me or any therapist many thousands of words to communicate. The photographer who spent a year taking pictures is named James Nachtwey. His photos are not pleasant to view. However, they convey in images what would take hundreds of pages to explain. Mr. Nachtwey's photos in this issue are haunting.

The issue of Time was entitled "The Opioid Diaries." It was the first time that a single topic has been addressed in Time, going past their short newsy appoach to a more quiet and less confrontational approach to  recording.

The late Seventies offered a mild increase in the number of people who were willing  to confront the opioid crisis.  The trouble that primarily African Americans, Hispanics and impoverished Caucasian addicts ran into was that an already highly addictive array of opioids were sold at very low prices until the people who started using became opioid dependent. Then, prices became high, inverse to the normal arc of dependence on opioids, in which higher potency and/or larger amounts are needed to maintain the same high experienced during first use.

The areas of the United States which were covered in the Time Opioid Crisis issue are "The streets of Boston and San Francisco (with opioid users), first responders in New Mexico, Ohio, and West Virginia, inside jail cells in Kentucky, in funerals in New Hampshire,  and in prayer meetings in Massachusetts."  Being a person from New Mexico, I was especially interested in learning about my home state's opioid problem.

The photographs that Mr. Nachtwey took were hitting a raw nerve in me because of my history of treating and counseling of opioid, meth, alcohol, and other substance addicts. Not only were the New Mexico photos jarring in their manner of opening up the use and consequences of opioid dependence, but they were taken in my home county in New Mexico,  each photo within a 15 mile radius of my childhood home. It is no secret that Rio Arriba County has had a long-term issue with usage of and dependencies on a wide variety of illegal substances since the beginning of the Eighties.

In an ethnography on the use of opioids amongst the impoverished Hispanic and Indigenous peoples of the Espanola Valley and Rio Arriba County, Dr. Angela Garcia's The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession Along the Rio Grande (2011 University  of Californa Press) documents the increasing dependence upon opioids amongst the low income people living in Rio Arriba County in New Mexico over a  three year period.  In what is perhaps a controversial method of gathering data for her book, Dr. Garcia not only spent research time at a clinic in the Espanola Valley, but also worked as a staff member for the clinic.

The opioids that come into this rural New Mexico situation tend to be from areas not near Rio Arriba County, or in the Espanola Valley.  Using quality as an adult indicator of life experiences, it is a valuable idea to remove any contaminants from the sample's data set. Some early research shows promise. Ms. Garcia's time employed as a detoxification assistant was considered a potential unconscious bias by a few journal critics who read her work.

A far more important point is that the clinic staff of  people who do these programs usually require family members to take a role in the family program segments with the opioid addict if the family truly wants their relative to be clean and sober. Research has revealed the importance of family and sober friend showing strong support in response to the detoxification and treatment outcomes.

There must be a circle of support for the family and the addict who is entering aftercare. In an ideal world, the family would attend a week of therapy and education to learn how the progression of opioid dependence occurs, with the provision of separate classes and support services to families by the clinic. Often called Family Week, the clinic will provide housing of town relatives and spouses of the person in treatment.

As the field of substance abuse grows and improves,  there must be ongoing program evaluation and accreditation to keep services up to speed with important scientific advancement and program innovations. Environments of many types  are examined in substance abuse clinics, innovations in their program is often shared in local, regional, and national programs. Two of the major accreditation  organizations also require a site visit by peer professionals to ensure that the program is in line with program and financial standards.

In the Espanola Valley, the clinic at which services were performed as documented in Ms. Garcia's book, was grossly underfunded.  An air of the feeling of hopelessness was documented.  There, people who received detoxification services anticipated a return to the clinic after discharge. The overwhelming prevalence of opioids' availability in Rio Arriba County, combined with poverty led to higher than average crime in that county and surrounding counties. Most homes have alarm systems and steel bars over windows.

Using data gathered by the New Mexico Department of Health,  the 2012-2016 prevalence of intentional and unintentional death by overdose in Rio Arriba County came in at 89.9 per 100,000  people. The band of confidence (95% probability of accuracy-range of 75.6 to 105.2) indicates that the total, adjusted for probability is significantly stable at the 89.9 figure. The table measuring severity of Rio Arriba's opioid death rate as "Reason for Concern" on a range classified by level of significance from "Excellent to Reason for Concern." Reason for Concern is defined as Rio Arriba County's 89.9 opioid death due to overdose is statisically significant at a 95% band of confidence when compared with the State of New Mexico's 24.6 or the United State's rate of 16.4 deaths due to opioid overdose from 2012-2016 at a 95% band of confidence.

Further analysis of the overall health data for Rio Arriba County indicates that while opioid overdose rate of 89.9 is the highest in any county in New Mexico, there are statisically similar findings of Reason for Concern in the difference between Rio Arriba County and the State of New Mexico. Rates of Deaths per 100,000 people for Alcohol are in the Reason for Concern category at 144.1 Deaths per 100,000 with the difference being statistically significant at a 95% band of confidence (126.8 to 161.3).

Perhaps the prevalence of
hospitalizations for diabetes is germane to the rates of alcohol and drug deaths per 100,000, being a health condition that accompanies alcohol and opioid dependence.  The rate per 100,000 for diabetes hospitalization falls at 34.3 for the period of 2014 to 2016. This is with a band of confidence at the 95% band of confidence (28.1-40.7).

Why I have taken the time to cite these findings from the State of New Mexico Health Department is the idea that the deaths of Rio Arriba County citizens as delivered by the New Mexico IBIS system is of sufficient concern to the Health Department to show that the prevalence of Deaths for Rio Arribans due to drug overdoses, some 90+ percent were opioid related. This is from 2012-2016. The deaths for Alcohol consumption in Rio Arriba County were 150% ABOVE drug deaths per 100,000. Hospitalizations  for diabetes, often brought on by substance abuse were again statistically significant at the 95% band of confidence.

I am not sure how Rio Arriba County compares with the other locations in the Time Magazine Opioid issue. That comparison is beyond the scope of my article. What I will say, as a final point is that my sister Susan died from complications of diabetes. She went into status epilepticus, a continual and fatal seizure brought on by disregard for her personal health while using IV opioids and alcohol.  She was my best friend and companion until I went to college. Her death occurred in Albuquerque,  but most of the use was in Rio Arriba County. For me, substance abuse has been a personal situation due to her use. That is the point Time Magazine made eloquently. Death due to opioid abuse was a personal issue for surviving family members, including me.

I would like to cite Angela Garcia's valuable book, The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession Along the Rio Grande (copyright 2011-University of California  Press), and Time Magazine's March 2, 2018 issue as a source for this article. The excellent statistical information on the New Mexico Department of Health IBIS website was invaluable in the preparation of this Reuminations article.

This article copyright 2018 by Peter Reum
All Rights Reserved

What Albums Do You Consider Perfect Records? by Peter Reum

How would you define an album that is flawless musically, lyrically, and technically? In 60 years of listening, there are only a few that are, for me, so satisfying that I can listen to them anytime, anywhere. What brought me to write about this topic was that today, I pulled out an album that still shines brightly nearly 50 years after it was first released.

Marvin Gaye's What's Going On happened to rise to the top of a bunch of cds I like. My late sister Susan had excellent taste in music, and I first heard Marvin's masterpiece on her little stereo. Not being an expert on quality of sound mixing, I heard the album as a complete gestalt type of listening experience. I went out and bought my first of many copies of the album.

The years immediately preceding What's Going On being released were difficult years for African Americans.  Fed up with token help, frustrated after the deaths of leaders, the advent of rioting began to show up in a number of United States cities. Foreshadowing the talking protest albums from Gil Scott Heron,  the protest music from Sly Stone, and the militance of the Black Panthers, What's Goin' On  delivered passionate music by a passionate recording artist. No one who heard What's Going On ever doubted the deep passion and emotional turmoil artists like Marvin Gaye expressed in their music.

I will not spend time speaking about the relationship between Marvin and his father. That Marvin and his father did not get along would be a generous description of father and son. Marvin's death after being shot by his father is a tragedy that is hard to accept. Marvin's father, a Pentecostal minister, had emotional issues with Marvin that took their toll on both men.

In 1970, Marvin had an idea for a concept album that would express the love he felt for his family and fans.  In a sense, the nine songs making up the What's Going On album are meditations on the problems of the era. Marvin describes his perceptions in a manner that empowers his mind to identify the various issues and to express his thoughts and impressions of why life  problems are a serious dilemma for him. The author tied young African Americans who are trying to stay prayerful about the numerous barriers to a better quality of life. It is clear that Marvin Gaye found some inspiration in exploring barriers to equality in mind as well as in the projects, jobs, breaking open new paths to success at radio, tv, and unique press stories once the album got airtime.

What's Going On has nine songs that, help frame the optimistic and pessimistic feelings that make the record so powerful. The discussion of topics that were timely in 1971 are minimally expressed, causing there to be a certain optimism to be absorbed by the listener. Each of the nine songs on What's Going On is a prayer for action or justice. If a listener comprehends Marvin's spirituality, this album that is as powerfully in 2018 as it was in 1971.

The incredible title single from the album opens with a conversation between a person who has been away from the neighborhood for awhile. The returned traveler receives his answer from a friend from the neighborhood who answers his questions. The friend answers by confirming there are no jobs, cannot pay the rent, children are hungry, and other problems. 

The person from the neighborhood answers his returning soldier friend by explaining how addiction has made his life impossible. His friend goes on to elaborate that there is no reason addicts can see to get off the dope because things are so desperately awful. His friend asks "who really cares to save a world that is destined to die?" "Such a bad way to live..." The friend then seems to experience a revelation, and says "Let's Save the Children....save the babies...."

As the meditation or prayer continues,  Marvin says "God is my friend." All God asks is that people love each other.  The answers continue to the newly returned traveler. The friend who continues to tell him about how things are ecologically. He says the sky's are grey, poison is carried in the air, and that oil spills kill the animals, fish are laced with mercury, radiation above and below ground is killing animals and people. The question raised is " how much more abuse from mankind can our Earth take before the Earth dies. 

Then, suddenly a meditation on what is going well in the world arises as if to make the point that only love can conquer the world's darkness.  Helping people like nurses, ministers, and people who follow God make up the core of the new world, a world that is full of true love. Love is the way our world can transform itself into a beautifully happier and more peaceful way. 

Marvin's beautiful meditation on the state of the world in 1971 pleads with his listeners to save the babies and the children of the world as an act of love, and even if futile, to do so because it is the spiritually correct thing to do.

Marvin saw our world's destruction and defiling as a act of suicide as a species. The bridges between tracks segue each song (meditation), helping his listeners see the state of this small world through his eyes, bringing a sense of immediacy to the problems of our planet. In one sense, the songs are a prayer to action, to examine our state of mind, and to come into harmony with the world, instead of treating the Earth as our personal playground to plunder.

The two songs that are formally prayers, Wholy Holy and God is Love are placed at critical locations in what may be a song cycle. God is Love is placed after the reunion of two friends, one who is getting back from a war overseas and wants to know all that has changed while he was gone. His friend answers his questions with information about hunger and poverty in the neighborhood, and horrible drug addiction. Following God Is Love, the friend from the neighborhood about the pollution that is ruining the Earth and killing people.

The friend then tells the soldier that pure love that is from God will conquer the  evil and suffering that people are feeling. especially on their mutual neighborhood. What follows next is Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), which many listeners have interpreted to be a return to expression of anger and frustration about their neighborhood. Personally, I have always seen the song to be a call to action.  If we continue to accept conditions as they are, such as stereotypes about other races and ethnicities,  the planet and life on it will die. Furthermore, I see a strong sense of frustration with having to put up with being stereotypically judged based on skin color or national background. What the person from the neighborhood does, is to ask his traveling friend to settle down and help the world get better after being in a very unpopular war. probably Viet Nam. Love conquers hate. 

Shall we begin??

Copyright 2018 by Peter Reum

All Rights Reserved 

What Constitutes Music of the Old West? by Peter Reum

Perhaps, like me, you grew up listening to Western Music. This music is, by definition, not the music of the Nashville variety. In my mind, Western Music would belong more to a popular style often constituted of a single vocalist and a guitar. The Western Music genre was made popular by artists who were not always  natives of the Western United States. Folkways put together a Cowboy Song album in the 1950s, which was derived from folk music research.  The artists on the album are varied, with some being better known as folk song singers.  When I was a young boy of 3 or 4 years of age, my favorite thing to do was to listen to the radio, which featured cowboy bands and singers.

A brief review of cds sold by Amazon using the words Western Music yields a wide variety of  choices. In strictly the Cowboy/Western genre, there are at least 10 to choose from, including two boxed sets. Having purchased a wide variety of cds from Rhino, the set I chose to buy first is called simply Songs of the West, and was issued by Rhino. The only way this set is available is by purchasing it used. My affection for this set is great, as my mind and heart were reawakened while hearing it. Those of you who have followed this blog are aware that I have generally chosen to focus my posts around issues around the Western United States. That said, this is the first blog entry here that  focuses on Cowboy/Western Music.

Cowboys are an American phenomenon, having begun in Mexico and Latin America. When the United States became an Atlantic to Pacific Ocean country, the parts of the USA that were previously Mexican territory and the music sung by the Mexican vaqueros became part of the Cowboys' life. This set is excellent, as are most boxed sets prepared by Rhino, a mix of  popular Cowboy Music, dating from 1935 through 1960. The selections from Songs of the West tap into a feeling of nostalgia. The 72 tracks on the 4 cd set are themed. The first cd focuses on popular Cowboy/Western Music that are most likely to be familiar to people who listened to the original 78 rpm discs, or the movie soundtracks in the genre. This first of four articles will focus on the better known Western Music artists.

Cover Art for the Rhino Songs of the West cd Boxed Set

The first cd in this set emphasizes the tunes and artists that are recognizable due to their popularity at the time they were hits. The artists featured here are top flight, including Sons of the Pioneers, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Patsy Montana, Marty Robbins, Riders in the Sky, Rex Allen Sr., Ian Tyson, Dale Evans and Roy Rogers, Tex Owens, and the Riders of the Purple Sage. Walter Brennan, known best as Grandpa McCoy on the tv series The Real McCoys, calls the play by play on the Gunfight in the Okay Corral, which makes him sound like an ancient cowboy recalling the fight when he saw it first hand. 

Gene Autry, a pioneer of Western Music who eventually became a wealthy owner of the Los Angeles Angels, opens disc 1 with his iconic Back in the Saddle Again. Autry became a producer and star of Western motion pictures and theater short films. Autry would go on to record hundreds of Western songs, but his most famous tune was always Back in the Saddle Again. Cowboy Blues, another Gene Autry performance, is somewhat of a cowboy lament type of song. Autry draws sympathetic thoughts from the listener. If there could be blues music in Western themed songs, Cowboy Blues would be a blues song, often termed a lament.

Tumblin' Tumbleweeds is perhaps one of the best known songs in the Western genre of songs. The tune appeared in the eponymous motion picture, Gene Autry's first. The song went on to become the theme song of the Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers vocal group. The song, along with Cool Water, was written by Bob Nolan, one of the original Sons of the Pioneers.

Cattle Call, written by Tex Owens, and first performed by Owens, is a popular song recorded by dozens of Western singers. The version on this Songs of the West set is the 1934 Owens version.

To late 20th and early 21st Century listeners, Tex Ritter may be better known being the father of the late tv comedian John Ritter, best known from the television series Three's Company. For older Western Music listeners, Tex Ritter's classic Western Music recordings are in the vanguard of the genre. (Take Me Back to My) Boots and Saddle was one of Tex Ritter's finest performances and an early hit. Ironically, the song was written by three Tin Pan Alley songwriters.

The 1964 Western film, Gunfight at the OK Corral, recounted the Tombstone, Arizona gunfight between the Earps and the Clantons. In contrast to the 1956 movie with Burt Lancaster, the 1964 film featured music. Music may be a generous description of Walter Brennan's spoken word performance, as it is more of a narrative. 

The song Big Iron appears on the Marty Robbins Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs album. Robbins had a tenor voice that was immediately recognizable. The album is perhaps one of the best concept albums in the Western Music genre. Some 62 years after it was first released, it remains in print. One interesting fact is that the Beach Boys' tune Heroes and Villains from the Smile album was lyrically inspired by this Marty Robbins album.

Ian Tyson, a Canadian singer and songwriter, has recorded a number of Western Music albums over a nearly 50 year career as an artist. Initially he cut more folk music themed with Sylvia Tyson. As the years passed, Ian Tyson moved into a Western Music style. and has had a successful recording career. Leavin' Cheyenne, featured in this set, is pulled from Tyson's 1983 album Old Corrals and Sagebrush. Tyson is a rancher by trade when he is not touring.

Patsy Montana, a pioneer female Western Music performer, and the scion of the famous Montana family, who have ridden in every Rose Bowl parade for decades, contributes her composition I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart, the first million selling record by a female performer in Western Music. Her group, The Prairie Ramblers, were mainstays on clear channel radio station WLS for nearly 20 years.

Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage, an early Western Music group, had a long and fruitful recording career. On this first disc of this set, they sing the Tin Pan Alley standard Ragtime Cowboy Joe. The tune is closely identified with Western Music, although it is derivative of early Western Music recordings. In the Seventies in San Francisco, members of several rock groups formed the New Riders of the Purple Sage in tribute to the original group.

Riders In the Sky, a modern Western band, are a trio of Western Music performer's, who were quite well known in the 1990s and 2000s. They are very popular with fans of modern Western Music. On this cd, they offer Ride Cowboys Ride, a tune co-written with Rex Allen Jr.

The late Frankie Laine and his group, the Muleskinners, are represented here on this disc with the tune Mule Train. The recording, which dates from 1949, is a Western Music standard,  and has been covered by many other artists. Mr. Laine performed well into his nineties, keeping the music alive.

Marty Robbins is also represented in this cd of Western songs by The Strawberry Roan. The song is a tribute to a horse that was never successfully ridden, despite many attempts. The Western rodeo, a series of events intended to tap into the various skills used by horse wrangled on ranches.

Riders In the Sky have a second song placed on this Western Music anthology entitled The Line Rider. On larger ranches, the job of riding the barbed wire fences that keep cattle in and rustlers out of huge parcels of range that are used to let cattle graze. This type of raising cattle has become less used with the advent of feedlot. During cattle drives, line riders kept the herd moving.

Rex Allen Sr. appears on this disc singing the Western classic The Last Roundup. The tune was written by the well known Billy Hill. Perhaps people who are not familiar with Western Music know Rex Allen Sr. best as the deep voiced narrator of numerous Disney nature films.

Tex Ritter appears a second time on this anthology of Western Music with the standard The Wayward Wind. This tune has been placed in numerous motion pictures to help viewers to comprehend the vast and diverse vistas and lands of the American West. On many Western highways, it is still possible to travel hundreds of miles without passing through but few communities, many of them sparsely populated,  the rest being ghost towns.

Completing this sampling of Western Music standards is the duo of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans singing their theme song, Happy Trails to You. There are very few of the Baby Boomers after World War 2 who were not familiar with these ambassadors of the American West. Simply put, the couple were, along with Gene Autry, the best known and familiar Western Music performers of the post World War 2 era.

This collection of Western artists can be found most easily on YouTube. The four cd set is out of print, and pricey when it can be found. Kudos to the folks at Rhino who assembled this set. The article covering the second cd from the set will be focusing on the music of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

Copyright 2018 by Peter Reum 

All Rights Reserved