Burton Cummings is set to release a solo album titled Above The Ground on Columbia Records late this year. This will be his first solo album since Plus Signs was released in 1990. The album is slated to have 18 tracks – all original songs written by Cummings and a documentary about the ‘making of ‘ is, apparently, in post-editing.
Just shy of celebrating 40 years in showbiz – it was 1969 when the Guess Who launched a career with “These Eyes” – the once prolific songwriter has increasingly lengthened the time frame between releasing albums, but has continued to tour intermittently as a solo act and more recently with Randy Bachman. Cummings has also maintained a connection with his fans online. Below is a reprint of his most recent blog entry where he ruminates on the razzmatazz of the American electoral process.
Friday, September 5, 2008
HERE COMES SARAH PALIN…
Here comes Sarah Palin. Maybe it’s just my age. Maybe it’s just because I grew up in Canada. I don’t know, but I’ve watched some of the Republican convention for the last few nights and I once again realized how celebrity crazy the U.S.A. is.
In two seconds, Sarah is a star. A bona fide ‘celeb’ – John McCain’s team did this with great deliberateness.
A week ago, very few people knew who this woman was.
In the stores now, she’ on the cover of at least a dozen major magazines.
Letterman said she looked like someone in a commercial for LensCrafters.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no vested interest in any of this, other than a good outcome for America. I’m not an American citizen yet, so I can’t even vote.
It just astounds me how the electoral game is played out in the States. It’s all about money.
Can you even fathom how much the Republicans spent this week?
I was driving tonight for about two hours, listening to wonderful music by various artists, all this I had seen came crashing into my head. I turned the music off for a while and just thought about it all.
It’s a ‘popularity contest’ and the consensus is that Sarah will ‘pick up’ many female voters that would have supported Hillary.
Good god, that’s a bit shallow, don’t ya think?
Meanwhile, it’s all over the net how much money Obama has raised since the ‘advent of Sarah’…huge numbers.
Does it all come down to who has the best speeches? Who looks the best on camera? Who has the best writers?
McCain is a hero, there’ no debating that. What he endured in the Hanoi Hilton is unimaginable. I would probably have told them everything they wanted to hear in five minutes. He was tortured for years. Unthinkable! But the way they ‘use’ that history of his is the same way agents and agencies promote Britney Spears.
These super crafted speeches are written behind the scenes and well in advance.
A couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have given McCain a chance in hell. Now, since ‘Super Sarah’ is in the mix, I think it’ll go right down to the wire, even though McCain only basically ‘promises’ more of the same that the country got from Bush.
If I could vote, I would probably vote for Obama, but that’s only because of the way he comes across on camera. I don’t pretend to know the first thing about the qualifications of anyone running. And I think literally millions of Americans who can vote are in exactly the same boat.
That’s what television has done to the American electoral process. It’s all down to who has the best hair, who’s the ‘prettiest’ and who stumbles the least over pre-written words while delivering from a teleprompter.
And that’s way it is. The next 60 days are going to affect the entire planet earth.
‘Look out Charlie, there’s a new bartender in town’.
Still working endlessly on the album cover; gotta fly tomorrow for video editing before the live gigs. Seems all the work is never, ever done, but I’m happy with Above the Ground, and that was my first priority.
BC
CUTS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING LATELY:
IN MY HEAD-YOUR VEGAS
DON’T TALK DOWN-THE STILLS
MY LITTLE JAPANESE CIGARETTE CASE-SPOON
DON’T YOU EVAH-SPOON
ASPHALT GROOVIN’-ROLFE KENT
DRIVE-ROLFE KENT
IN FRONT-KEITH JARRETT
A QUIET GASS-HENRY MANCINI
BLOOZIE-KANAREK
CAPER AT THE COFFEE HOUSE-WARNER BROS. STUDIO
THE BROTHERS GO TO MOTHER’S-HENRY MANCINI
THREE MARLENAS-WALLFLOWERS
YOUR SAVING GRACE-STEVE MILLER
BLACK HORSE AND THE CHERRY TREE-KT TUNSTALL
6 UNDERGROUND-SNEAKER PIMPS
ARE YOU JIMMY RAY-JIMMY RAY
THEME FROM HATARI-HENRY MANCINI
PLUSH-STP
I WALK ON GUILDED SPLINTERS-DR. JOHN
TEEN FLIP-ERNIE FIELDS
HOME-IGGY POP
THE MAKER-DANIEL LANOIS
EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO ME-THELONIOUS MONK
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Above The Ground is a nice change of pace from the music out there..