Elvis Ate Dynamite

Good-Bye Elvis

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Lawyer, legal editor, mediocre guitar player, aging punk rocker.

  • Worried Man Blues

    This Veterans Day, I want to take a moment to recognize the OG guitar player in our family, my dad, Paul J. von Ebers. He served with the US Army’s 66th Infantry Division in France in 1944-45.

    Here he is in the kitchen with his old acoustic guitar on his birthday in 1966:

    He used to play these old-timey songs on that guitar, like “There’s a Hole in the Bucket” and “Worried Man Blues,” which seemed quite apt. I really does take a worried man to sing a worried song.

    Fun fact: that’s the guitar that my late brother Tom borrowed in the early 1970s when he took classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Decades later, my wife and I took guitar lessons there, too. 

    But today I’m thinking about my dad. 

    You hear this all the time, but that just shows how ubiquitous it was: My dad, like most WWII vets, did not talk much about his experiences. I was probably out of law school when he finally told me about his first taste of combat, which happened on Christmas Eve 1944. His and another regiment of the 66th Division were crossing the English channel from Southampton to Cherbourg aboard two ships — the HMS Cheshire (which my dad was on) and the SS Leopoldville — when a German u-boat torpedoed the Leopoldville. They lost some 800 men in the early hours of Christmas morning. 

    That’s a hell of thing to experience as a young man.

    I am proud of his service, but it’s not the thing that defines him. Yes, he helped save the world from fascism, and that’s no small thing. But my father spent his post-war years teaching college, raising a family, and doing all he could to improve our little suburb on the western edge of Chicago. He and my mom were involved in the local civil rights movement, which is a bit of an understatement. My dad co-authored our local public school district’s first diversity policy and the Village of Oak Park’s first diversity statement, too. 

    And when our local public high school considered expanding their diversity policy to protect LGBTQ+ students in the late 1980s or early ’90s, my dad supported that, too.

    Anyway, this year, for my birthday and in celebration of the 80th anniversary of VE Day, I got a tattoo based on the shoulder patch from his old Army uniform:

    They were called the Black Panther Division, and they helped save the world.

    Anyway, I think my dad was a fine exemplar of what it means to be a veteran and a solid citizen. Thanks, Dad. 

  • Joe Strummer … Left-Handed Guitar Player?

    Miniature replica of Joe Strummer’s famous Telecaster

    I’d like to think I know a lot about Joe Strummer. He is, after all, my favorite artist. Like a typical obsessive fan, I own every official Clash and Joe Strummer release in one form or another, except for some recent compilations. I’ve read a fair number of articles about Joe in and out of the Clash, including the Antonino D’Ambrosio-edited essay collection, Let Fury Have the Hour: Joe Strummer, Punk, and the Movement that Shook the World. And, of course, I bookmarked JoeStrummer.com for easy reference. As one does.

    So how come I never knew that Joe Strummer was left-handed?

    Not that left-handedness or right-handedness matters, of course. But Joe played a right-handed guitar. As in, he played a right-handed guitar right-handed. Not like Jimi Hendrix, who flipped over a right-handed Stratocaster and made it wail like the voice of God. 

    No, left-handed Joe Strummer taught himself to play a right-handed guitar with a pick in his right hand and his left hand doing the fretwork.

    I owe this revelation to Brenda Perlin (@losangelespunkrocker on Instagram — a fascinating account, by the way), who posted a clip of Joe Strummer’s final interview on arte.tv. You can find the excerpt on YouTube. It’s well worth a listen.

    In it, Joe explains that when he first learned to play guitar, he couldn’t afford one of his own, so he borrowed various guitars from his right-handed friends. And, rather than flipping them over (a la Hendrix) and restringing them — no easy feat with a Strat or a Telecaster, where all the tuning pins are on the same side of the headstock — he forced himself to play with his right hand.  

    That, Joe says, is why he called himself Joe Strummer — because he never got the hang of playing solos, so he just played chords. Reminds me of a recent-ish interview with Bob Mould where he said, “I’m pretty comfortable saying that I excel at rhythm guitar.”

    So, you see, if this lawyer/legal editor gig doesn’t work out, maybe there’s hope for me yet.

    But, really, the story of left-handed Joe Strummer learning to play right-handed guitar out of necessity is a perfect encapsulation of Joe and the Clash. They were DIY artists before there was such a thing. From rewiring and re-plumbing abandoned council flats (that’s in the interview too!) to Mick selecting non-musician Paul Simonon to become the band’s bass player to Simonon coming up with the band’s name and signature look, the Clash basically built an airplane mid-flight and flew it around the world.

    You learn something new every day, I guess. That’s why music is an endless source of inspiration.

  • Black Coffee and Electric Guitars

    My wife is in Florida for work this weekend, so, being the supportive husband that I am, I’ve been up early to FaceTime with her before she starts the day. (I’m in the Chicago area, so she’s an hour ahead.) Which means, aside from tending to two very needy cats, I have a fair amount of time on my hands.

    This is good and bad. It’s good because she loves her job and I’m very proud of her. They’re lucky to have her. 

    It’s bad, because having more hours to fiddle away can lead to wasting time on social media or, worse, tuning into Sunday morning news-talk shows. And nothing good can come from that.

    So, as yesterday’s video demonstrates, I try to spend at least a few hours playing guitar when she’s away. It’s a form of therapy, I guess. For me, anyway; I’m not sure the cats enjoy it.

    This morning I’ve been playing around with “Spanish Bombs” from the Clash’s London Calling album. As I typically do, I searched for chord charts online and I found one on Ultimate Guitar that seems pretty accurate. 

    I don’t know if this is how the band played it, but it sounds good to me. With the capo on the second fret, the introductory part goes like this (all chords relative to the capo): 

    | G | Emadd9 G/B | Am | Cm | 

    | G | Emadd9 G/B | Am | Cm |

    Then the first and third verses repeat this pattern four times:

    | G | Em Bm |

    | Am | Cm |

    Then the chorus:

    | G | Em Bm |

    | Em Bm | F |

    | G | Em Bm |

    | Em Bm | F |

    The song doesn’t have a true bridge, but the second verse follows the same pattern as the intro, repeating this four times:

    | G | Emadd9 G/B | Am | Cm |

    And the outro is the same as the intro, repeating | G | Emadd9 G/B | Am | Cm | over the phrase “o mi corazón …” as the song fades out.

    Such beautiful chords for a song about the horrific bombing of Guernica during the Spanish civil war. Oddly, I think works, and it might be my favorite Clash song.

    In any event, that’s how I’m spending my Sunday morning — with black coffee and guitar therapy. Whatever gives you peace, I hope you are able to find it this weekend. 

  • Bruce Doesn’t Play Barre Chords

    Today I’m working on Bruce Springsteen’s “Johnny 99” from the Nebraska album and I’m struggling a bit, despite its simplicity. Though it only has three chords (B, F# and E), two of them are barre chords … the bane of the neophyte guitar player’s existence.

    Anyway, in this video I relate a funny story that I learned from Bruce’s lengthy Howard Stern interview and I share my thoughts about the topic. 

    Happy Saturday, everybody!

  • Album of the Day: Corey Glover, Hymns

    In honor of Corey Glover’s 61st birthday, I revisited his 1998 debut solo album, Hymns, today. 

    I’m a huge fan of Glover and his main band, Living Colour, whom we saw very close up at City Winery in Chicago in 2017. It’s a small venue and we were sitting right by the stage. Easily the loudest concert I’ve ever been to. 

    Funny story: during a pause between songs, someone yelled “We love you!” from the back of the room, to which Corey responded, “I don’t even know you.” It was classic Corey Glover. Not rude, just factual. And that’s who he is. He’s a guy who speaks the plain truth. We could use more of that these days.

    Anyway, back to Hymns. It’s a very good album. It opens with “Hymn #1017,” a short, spoken word piece over a muted instrumental, then launches into “Do You First, Then Do Myself,” a track that could easily come from a Living Colour album. And while a few tracks on the album recall Living Colour’s hard rock sound, listening to it from start to finish, I discerned hints of Queen, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Buddy Guy, James Brown, Steve Miller Band, Joe Walsh, Stevie Wonder, Boz Scaggs and … maybe a little David Johansen? 

    And then there’s the final song on the album — “Silence” — which starts out with a country vibe before going full 1970s Rolling Stones.

    Which is not to say that he’s imitating those artists. Not at all. Every track has a very distinctive Corey Glover sound — a sound that’s been unmistakable since you first heard “Cult of Personality” back in the late 1980s.

    No, the record isn’t derivative. Instead, it shows Glover’s range. He can, and does, perform virtually every kind of rock and soul imaginable, and he does it in his own way. Not only does Hymns show his range, but it serves as a reminder that none of us should stereotype Black artists — or for that matter, Black music fans. Music, in all its forms, belongs to all of us. 

    And Corey Glover just happens to do all of it spectacularly. 

  • Jail Guitar Doors USA

    Video from my Instagram page: Support Jail Guitar Doors USA.

    This is a video I posted on my Instagram page on Friday, October 17 (which explains why I say “Happy Friday”!), but I thought I would post it here as well. 

    As I explain in the video, Jail Guitar Doors is a great organization that provides musical instruments to incarcerated people to help with their rehabilitation. As I understand it, Billy Bragg started the organization in the UK, naming it after a Clash song, and the late, great Wayne Kramer of Detroit’s legendary MC5 brought it to the United States. 

    Aside from the fact that Jail Guitar Doors is a great organization doing great work, the story of how it came to America is truly wild. Check out this video from Tom Morello on the organization’s website (also available on YouTube) which explains how, unknown to Billy Bragg, the Clash actually wrote the namesake song … about Wayne Kramer. The particular serendipity that led Wayne to borrow Billy’s guitar, see a sticker on it saying “Jail Guitar Doors,” and ask Billy what it was about … well, it’s pretty remarkable.

    So please donate if you can, and if you have any particular charities that you support, please mention them in the comments below. Let’s all do what we can to make the world a better place! 

  • What Are You Listening To?

    Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt, RDS Arena, Dublin, Ireland, May 2023.

    As I said in my original post, I write about music because music is a refuge. And, as it turns out, it doesn’t really matter what kind of music you listen to. It’s all a refuge.

    To say that I have eclectic taste in music would be an understatement. The best way I can explain it is to provide a partial list of the acts I’ve seen in concert over the years:

    • Flatt & Scruggs with John Hartford (in Nashville, TN, 1976)
    • The Rolling Stones (twice)
    • Peter Tosh
    • Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes (multiple times since 1978)
    • The Eagles
    • Steve Miller Band
    • Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (multiple times since 1981, including twice in Dublin, Ireland)
    • The Ramones
    • Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (three times)
    • The Police
    • Joan Jett
    • Joe Jackson
    • John Hiatt (at least twice)
    • Peter Gabriel
    • Simon & Garfunkel
    • Los Lobos (twice)
    • Clint Black
    • Dwight Yoakam (twice)
    • The Mavericks (multiple times since 1994)
    • Raul Malo, solo
    • Johnny Cash
    • Rosanne Cash (twice)
    • Garland Jeffreys (multiple times since 2012)
    • LP
    • Bob Mould
    • Living Colour
    • Steve Earle
    • Graham Parker
    • Terrance Simien (multiple times)
    • CJ Chenier
    • Taj Mahal
    • Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
    • Keb’ Mo’

    And that doesn’t take into account dozens of small, local acts I’ve seen at bars and clubs around Chicago.

    It also doesn’t take into account bands and artists that had a huge impact on me but I never had a chance to see live — especially Joe Strummer and the Clash, who probably had the biggest influence on me of any artists. Aside from listening to endless hours of the Clash and Joe’s solo music, I’ve spent endless hours practicing Clash songs on the guitar. The Clash and Bruce Springsteen account for a good 90% of the songs I’ve learned to play, and for good reason: They put out great songs that are really fun to play.

    But, in the end, your choice of music is extremely personal and no matter what you listen to, it’s all good. If it means something to you, that’s all that matters. 

    So feel free to drop a note in the comments about your favorite bands and artists, including those you’ve seen in concert, those you haven’t gotten around to seeing, and those you regret not seeing before they passed away or retired. 

  • Good-Bye Elvis

    Elvis

    Ate

    Dynamite

    Good

    Bye

    Elvis

    That’s a common mnemonic device to remember the standard tuning for a six-string guitar, from top (low E) to bottom (high E). At least according to my old guitar teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.

    I think about that mnemonic all the time, in part because I never particularly liked Elvis Presley and in part because it’s just kind of funny.

    To be clear, though, I’m not here to tell anybody who they should or shouldn’t listen to. If you love Elvis, knock yourselves out. He never appealed to me, but that’s not what this site is about. It’s about music. And guitar playing. And guitar playing as a way of coping.

    So who am I to judge anyone else’s taste in music.

    You might have noticed that the world is … how to put this delicately? … on edge lately. Emotions run high. Politics is a full contact sport. Everyday, another outrage eclipses yesterday’s outrage. And tomorrow, another outrage will eclipse today’s.

    So, what are we supposed to do? Give up? Lose hope? Quit fighting?

    No, I don’t think so. I don’t think we have the luxury to do that. It’s our world and we have to do what we can to make it better. 

    I’m showing both age and naïveté here, but I still think about that scene near the end of For Whom the Bell Tolls where Robert Jordan lies on the forest floor awaiting his likely death at the hands of Franco’s fascists and says, “the world is a fine place and worth the fighting for.” 

    It is worth fighting for. The question is, how? Everyone has to find their own way to fight, grounded in their own skills and tailored to their own circumstances. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and each of us has to figure out where ours lie. 

    After all, you can’t fight every battle, and you can’t fight any battle if you wear yourself out mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.

    I’ve spent entirely too much time on social media over the past 15 years or so, so I say this based on personal experience and I mean it with love: For most of us, rage-posting, arguing with strangers, and doom-scrolling is not the way. With the exception of some very skilled social media accounts, that’s a waste of time and a huge waste of mental and emotional energy for the average person. Most of us, no matter how well-intentioned, will not change anyone else’s mind, but we will harm our own. 

    Or maybe that’s just me. Who knows.

    Anyway, I think the more effective way to build a better world around you is to get involved in your local community. Find local organizations that do good work and get involved. Which is not to say you should ignore national or international organizations — those that do good work deserve your support and involvement as well. But people in your community likely need immediate help, and local organizations are often in the best position to help them.

    And stay in touch with family, friends, and neighbors. Keep positive relationships strong and let the people around you know you’re there for them. Positive change usually happens from the bottom up, not the top down.

    Circling back to music and guitar playing and coping, that, I think, is why I launched this site. Not to fight those battles here, but to have a place to recharge, share things that are positive and meaningful to me, and find some peace of mind.

    And then get back in the fight.

    So, I hope you’ll stop by from time to time for the camaraderie, positive vibes, and other assorted nonsense. Even if you’re an Elvis fan.