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Here's Your New Consensus Reading List
A new consensus in economic thought is emerging around the question of how nations should take care of their economies. Here's your reading list to get caught up!
First, get yourself de-programmed with Bad Samaritans. This is the best overall globally-oriented introduction to how economic progress really happens. Even though Ha-Joon Chang has written some great new books (see below), Bad Samaritans is the best treatment of how the rich countries got rich by trying as societies, by building institutions such as national investment banks, non-profit savings bank networks, state-owned or state-backed industries, infrastructure and education designed to promote industrial development, and so on – and how all the countries today that are making economic and social progress are still using those kinds of institutions.
Bad Samaritans was an introduction to open-minded economists and political free-thinkers to Ha-Joon Chang's theories of the dangers of free-trade. With irreverent wit, an engagingly personal style, and a keen grasp of history, Chang blasts holes in the "World Is Flat" orthodoxy of Thomas Friedman and others who argue that only unfettered capitalism and wide-open international trade can lift struggling nations out of poverty. On the contrary, Chang shows, today's economic superpowers-from the U.S. to Britain to his native Korea-all attained prosperity by shameless protectionism and government intervention in industry, a fact conveniently forgotten now that they want to compete in foreign markets. Chang's cage-rattling, contrarian history of global capital appeals to readers new to economic theory as well as members of the old school looking for a fresh take.
Learn about the biggest, baddest entrepreneur from Mariana Mazzucato. The Entrepreneurial State documents how virtually every innovative and dynamic part of the U.S. economy has been funded essentially by public venture capital. But it's a very strange sort of venture capital that takes no stake in exchange for its investments (why? because: private=good, public=bad!). Learn how every cool piece of technology in your smart phone was developed by some company that was venture-backed by the U.S. government decades before anyone else saw any practical application for the technology.
In this sharp and controversial exposé, Mariana Mazzucato debunks the pervasive myth that the state is a laggard, bureaucratic apparatus at odds with a dynamic private sector. She reveals in detailed case studies, including a riveting chapter on the iPhone, that the opposite is true: the state is, and has been, our boldest and most valuable innovator. Denying this history is leading us down the wrong path. A select few get credit for what is an intensely collective effort, and the US government has started disinvesting from innovation. The repercussions could stunt economic growth and increase inequality. Mazzucato teaches us how to reverse this trend before it is too late.
Try on a new paradigm with Kate Raworth. Doughnut Economics doesn't just tell you what's wrong with the current economics paradigm, it offers a whole new one to take it's place. It's exploding right now. I was visiting a think tank in Berlin, and the book was out on every desk.
Economics is the mother tongue of public policy. It dominates our decision-making for the future, guides multi-billion-dollar investments, and shapes our responses to climate change, inequality, and other environmental and social challenges that define our times.
Pity then, or more like disaster, that its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date yet are still taught in college courses worldwide and still used to address critical issues in government and business alike.
That's why it is time, says renegade economist Kate Raworth, to revise our economic thinking for the 21st century. In Doughnut Economics, she sets out seven key ways to fundamentally reframe our understanding of what economics is and does. Along the way, she points out how we can break our addiction to growth; redesign money, finance, and business to be in service to people; and create economies that are regenerative and distributive by design.
Named after the now-iconic "doughnut" image that Raworth first drew to depict a sweet spot of human prosperity (an image that appealed to the Occupy Movement, the United Nations, eco-activists, and business leaders alike), Doughnut Economics offers a radically new compass for guiding global development, government policy, and corporate strategy, and sets new standards for what economic success looks like.
Raworth handpicks the best emergent ideas—from ecological, behavioral, feminist, and institutional economics to complexity thinking and Earth-systems science—to address this question: How can we turn economies that need to grow, whether or not they make us thrive, into economies that make us thrive, whether or not they grow?
Simple, playful, and eloquent, Doughnut Economics offers game-changing analysis and inspiration for a new generation of economic thinkers.
Let Rana Foroohar introduce you to the good guys and the bad guys in Makers and Takers. Foroohar turns around Mitt Romney's famous division of America by showing us who the real makers are, and the real takers. Makers are people who add value to our economy, as workers, entrepreneurs, caregivers, artists, parents and grandparents and others. Takers those on Wall Street who use the power of de facto government-insured credit and government bailouts to suck huge amounts of wealth out of the economy.
In looking at the forces that brought our current administration to power one thing is clear: much of the population believes that our economic system is rigged to enrich the privileged elites at the expense of hard-working Americans. This is a belief held equally on both sides of political spectrum, and it seems only to be gaining momentum.
A key reason, says Financial Times columnist Rana Foroohar, is the fact that Wall Street is no longer supporting Main Street businesses that create the jobs for the middle and working class. She draws on in-depth reporting and interviews at the highest rungs of business and government to show how the "financialization of America"—the phenomenon by which finance and its way of thinking have come to dominate every corner of business—is threatening the American Dream.
Now updated with new material explaining how our corrupted financial system propelled Donald Trump to power, Makers and Takers explores the confluence of forces that has led American businesses to favor balance-sheet engineering over the actual kind, greed over growth, and short-term profits over putting people to work. From the cozy relationship between Wall Street and Washington, to a tax code designed to benefit wealthy individuals and corporations, to forty years of bad policy decisions, she shows why so many Americans have lost trust in the system, and why it matters urgently to us all.
Through colorful stories of both "Takers," those stifling job creation while lining their own pockets, and "Makers," businesses serving the real economy, Foroohar shows how we can reverse these trends for a better path forward.
Learn how the some scrappy right wing activists and business leaders changed America's mind about economics last century and created the consensus we're now breaking away from. Here's how we got into this mess!
Invisible Hands tells the story of how a small group of American businessmen succeeded in building a political movement. Long before the "culture wars" of the 1960s sparked the Republican backlash against cultural liberalism, these high-powered individuals actively resisted New Deal economics and sought to educate and organize their peers. Kim Phillips-Fein recounts the little-known efforts of men such as W. C. Mullendore, Leonard Read, and Jasper Crane, drawing on meticulous research and narrative gifts to craft a compelling history of the role of big and small business in American politics—and a blueprint for anyone who wants insight into the way that money has been used to create political change. Some images in the ebook are not displayed owing to permissions issues.
Get a deeper overview of the emerging consensus from a whole range of economists – including:
Rethinking Capitalism: An Introduction (Michael Jacobs and Mariana Mazzucato)
The Failure of Austerity: Rethinking Fiscal Policy (Stephanie Kelton)
Understanding Money and Macroeconomic Policy (L. Randall Wray and Yeva Nersisyan)
The Costs of Short-termism (Andrew Haldane)
Innovative Enterprise and the Theory of the Firm (William Lazonick)
Innovation, the State and Patient Capital (Mariana Mazzucato)
Investment-led Growth: A Solution to the European Crisis (Stephany Griffith-Jones and Giovanni Cozzi)
Inequality and Economic Growth (Joseph Stiglitz)
The Paradoxes of Privatisation and Public Service Outsourcing (Colin Crouch)
Decarbonisation: Innovation and the Economics of Climate Change (Dimitri Zenghelis)
Capitalism, Technology and a Green Global Golden Age: The Role of History in Helping to Shape the Future (Carlota Perez)
Western capitalism is in crisis. For decades investment has been falling, living standards have stagnated or declined, and inequality has risen dramatically. Economic policy has neither reformed the financial system nor restored stable growth. Climate change meanwhile poses increasing risks to future prosperity.
In this book some of the world's leading economists propose new ways of thinking about capitalism. In clear and compelling prose, each chapter shows how today's deep economic problems reflect the inadequacies of orthodox economic theory and the failure of policies informed by it. The chapters examine a range of contemporary economic issues, including fiscal and monetary policy, financial markets and business behaviour, inequality and privatisation, and innovation and environmental change. The authors set out alternative economic approaches which better explain how capitalism works, why it often doesn't, and how it can be made more innovative, inclusive and sustainable. Outlining a series of far-reaching policy reforms, Rethinking Capitalism offers a powerful challenge to mainstream economic debate, and new ideas to transform it.
Go back to Ha-Joon for a deeper understanding of how economies really work.
In his bestselling 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang brilliantly debunked many of the predominant myths of neoclassical economics. Now, in an entertaining and accessible primer, he explains how the global economy actually works-in real-world terms. Writing with irreverent wit, a deep knowledge of history, and a disregard for conventional economic pieties, Chang offers insights that will never be found in the textbooks.
Unlike many economists, who present only one view of their discipline, Chang introduces a wide range of economic theories, from classical to Keynesian, revealing how each has its strengths and weaknesses, and why there is no one way to explain economic behavior. Instead, by ignoring the received wisdom and exposing the myriad forces that shape our financial world, Chang gives us the tools we need to understand our increasingly global and interconnected world often driven by economics. From the future of the Euro, inequality in China, or the condition of the American manufacturing industry here in the United States-Economics: The User's Guide is a concise and expertly crafted guide to economic fundamentals that offers a clear and accurate picture of the global economy and how and why it affects our daily lives.
Let Justin Lin clue you in to what the world economy looks like from Beijing. Justin Lin is one of the figures who is bringing Beijing into it's own as the once and future center of the world. After serving as the chief economist of the World Bank, through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, he gives his take on what's really going on.
In June 2008, Justin Yifu Lin was appointed Chief Economist of the World Bank, right before the eruption of the worst global financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. Drawing on experience from his privileged position, Lin offers unique reflections on the cause of the crisis, why it was so serious and widespread, and its likely evolution. Arguing that conventional theories provide inadequate solutions, he proposes new initiatives for achieving global stability and avoiding the recurrence of similar crises in the future. He suggests that the crisis and the global imbalances both originated with the excess liquidity created by US financial deregulation and loose monetary policy, and recommends the creation of a global Marshall Plan and a new supranational global reserve currency. This thought-provoking book will appeal to academics, graduate students, policy makers, and anyone interested in the global economy.
Be shocked at how easy this could all be with The Public Banking Solution. Ellen Brown lays out the too-good-to-be-true-but-actually-true public bank solution. Banks create money when they loan out money and borrowers write checks for far more money than what's sitting in the vault. In most thriving industrial countries, public banks are a big part of what keep's them thriving. Public banks fund what private banks aren't interested in: low-profit margin infrastructure projects, small and medium sized business, large long term investments in new or upgrading industries.
WHAT WALL STREET DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW. Shock waves from one Wall Street scandal after another have completely disillusioned us with our banking system; yet we cannot do without banks. Nearly all money today is simply bank credit. Economies run on it, and it is created when banks make loans. The main flaw in the current model is that private profiteers have acquired control of the credit spigots. They can cut off the flow, direct it to their cronies, and manipulate it for personal gain at the expense of the producing economy. The benefits of bank credit can be maintained while eliminating these flaws, through a system of banks operated as public utilities, serving the public interest and returning their profits to the public. This book looks at the public bank alternative, and shows with examples from around the world and through history that it works admirably well, providing the key to sustained high performance for the economy and well-being for the people.
Then read Ann Pettifor's book to prove to yourself that Ellen wasn't making it all up.
In this accessible, brilliantly argued book, leading political economist Ann Pettifor explains in straightforward terms history's most misunderstood invention: the money system. Pettifor argues that democracies can, and indeed must, reclaim control over money production and restrain the out-of-control finance sector so that it serves the interests of society, as well as the needs of the ecosystem.
The Production of Money examines and assesses popular alternative debates on, and innovations in, money, such as "green QE" and "helicopter money." She sets out the possibility of linking the money in our pockets (or on our smartphones) to the improvements we want to see in the world around us.
And if you're still not convinced, then read The End of Alchemy by the former governor of the Bank of England!
Have mainstream Financial Times economics guru Martin Wolf tell you how he and all his colleagues had it all wring, and that it's time governments start mobilizing many trillions of dollars in "non-debt monetary expansion" (creating money) for "fiscal policy" (investing in industry and infrastructure) again!
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There have been many books that have sought to explain the causes and courses of the financial and economic crisis that began in 2007. The Shifts and the Shocks is not another detailed history of the crisis but is the most persuasive and complete account yet published of what the crisis should teach us about modern economies and economics. Written with all the intellectual command and trenchant judgment that have made Martin Wolf one of the world's most influential economic commentators, The Shifts and the Shocks matches impressive analysis with no-holds-barred criticism and persuasive prescription for a more stable future. It is a book no one with an interest in global affairs will want to neglect.
And if one mainstream econ guy wasn't enough, then read former PIMCO CEO Mohamed El-Erian who says it too.
Our current economic path is coming to an end. The signposts are all around us: sluggish growth, rising inequality, stubbornly high pockets of unemployment, and jittery financial markets, to name a few. Soon we will reach a fork in the road: One path leads to renewed growth, prosperity, and financial stability, the other to recession and market disorder.
In The Only Game in Town, El-Erian casts his gaze toward the future of the global economy and markets, outlining the choices we face both individually and collectively in an era of economic uncertainty and financial insecurity. Beginning with their response to the 2008 global crisis, El-Erian explains how and why our central banks became the critical policy actors—and, most important, why they cannot continue is this role alone. They saved the financial system from collapse in 2008 and a multiyear economic depression, but lack the tools to enable a return to high inclusive growth and durable financial stability. The time has come for a policy handoff, from a prolonged period of monetary policy experimentation to a strategy that better targets what ails economies and distorts the financial sector—before we stumble into another crisis.
2) And now that you know we need to launch a massive national rebuilding project in every nation, it's time to learn about some of the ways that nations have done this in the past. Have your breath taken away by seeing what's possible with Freedom's Forge. This book is written by a hard right-wing historian, which makes it all the better to read. He provides a great model here for how to explain a national economic building project in terms that conservatives will like.
Remarkable as it may seem today, there once was a time when the president of the United States could pick up the phone and ask the president of General Motors to resign his position and take the reins of a great national enterprise. And the CEO would oblige, no questions asked, because it was his patriotic duty.
In Freedom's Forge, bestselling author Arthur Herman takes us back to that time, revealing how two extraordinary American businessmen—automobile magnate William Knudsen and shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser—helped corral, cajole, and inspire business leaders across the country to mobilize the "arsenal of democracy" that propelled the Allies to victory in World War II.
"Knudsen? I want to see you in Washington. I want you to work on some production matters." With those words, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enlisted "Big Bill" Knudsen, a Danish immigrant who had risen through the ranks of the auto industry to become president of General Motors, to drop his plans for market domination and join the U.S. Army. Commissioned a lieutenant general, Knudsen assembled a crack team of industrial innovators, persuading them one by one to leave their lucrative private sector positions and join him in Washington, D.C. Dubbed the "dollar-a-year men," these dedicated patriots quickly took charge of America's moribund war production effort.
Then read a much better-researched and objective account of the mobilization for World War II in Mark Wilson's Creative Destruction.
During World War II, the United States helped vanquish the Axis powers by converting its enormous economic capacities into military might. Producing nearly two-thirds of all the munitions used by Allied forces, American industry became what President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "the arsenal of democracy." Crucial in this effort were business leaders. Some of these captains of industry went to Washington to coordinate the mobilization, while others led their companies to churn out weapons. In this way, the private sector won the war—or so the story goes.
Based on new research in business and military archives, Destructive Creation shows that the enormous mobilization effort relied not only on the capacities of private companies but also on massive public investment and robust government regulation. This public-private partnership involved plenty of government-business cooperation, but it also generated antagonism in the American business community that had lasting repercussions for American politics. Many business leaders, still engaged in political battles against the New Deal, regarded the wartime government as an overreaching regulator and a threatening rival. In response, they mounted an aggressive campaign that touted the achievements of for-profit firms while dismissing the value of public-sector contributions. This probusiness story about mobilization was a political success, not just during the war, but afterward, as it shaped reconversion policy and the transformation of the American military-industrial complex.
Offering a groundbreaking account of the inner workings of the "arsenal of democracy," Destructive Creation also suggests how the struggle to define its heroes and villains has continued to shape economic and political development to the present day.
Next learn about how some other countries have mobilized just because they wanted to, not because they needed to go to war. Like Finland and Denmark, who used many institutions that any country could such as public venture funds.
At the close of the twentieth century, Denmark, Finland, and Ireland emerged as unlikely centers for high-tech competition. In When Small States Make Big Leaps, Darius Ornston reveals how these historically low-tech countries managed to assume leading positions in new industries such as biotechnology, software, and telecommunications equipment. In each case, countries used institutions that are commonly perceived to delay restructuring to accelerate the redistribution of resources to emerging enterprises and industries.
Ornston draws on interviews with hundreds of politicians, policymakers, and industry representatives to identify two different patterns of institutional innovation and economic restructuring. Irish policymakers worked with industry and labor representatives to contain costs and expand market competition. Denmark and Finland adopted a different strategy, converting an established tradition of private-public and industry-labor cooperation to invest in high-quality inputs such as human capital and research. Both strategies facilitated movement into new high-tech industries but with distinctive political and economic consequences. In explaining how previously slow-moving states entered dynamic new industries, Ornston identifies a broader range of strategies by which countries can respond to disruptive challenges such as economic internationalization, rapid technological innovation, and the shift to services.
Learn how a fruit-importer, Samsung became a global powerhouse – and many other incredible tales from the complex and conflicted Park Chung Hee era. South Korea started with virtually no economy, a mostly illiterate population, and very few resources – and built a modern, wealthy economy almost in a single generation. Many believe that they were favored by huge investments from the United States. But the U.S. was actually very stingy with South Korea. The country used public funding, and tight coordination – even micromanagement – of firms.
In 1959 South Korea was mired in poverty. By 1979, it had a powerful industrial economy and a vibrant civil society that led to democracy eight years later. This volume examines the transformation as a study in the politics of modernization, contextualizing many historical ambiguities in South Korea's trajectory toward sustainable economic growth.
The story of the post-war Japanese model.
The focus of this book is on the Japanese economic bureaucracy, particularly on the famous Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), as the leading state actor in the economy. Although MITI was not the only important agent affecting the economy, nor was the state as a whole always predominant, I do not want to be overly modest about the importance of this subject. The particular speed, form, and consequences of Japanese economic growth are not intelligible without reference to the contributions of MITI. Collaboration between the state and big business has long been acknowledged as the defining characteristic of the Japanese economic system, but for too long the state's role in this collaboration has been either condemned as overweening or dismissed as merely supportive, without anyone's ever analyzing the matter.
The history of MITI is central to the economic and political history of modern Japan. Equally important, however, the methods and achievements of the Japanese economic bureaucracy are central to the continuing debate between advocates of the communist-type command economies and advocates of the Western-type mixed market economies. The fully bureaucratized command economies misallocate resources and stifle initiative; in order to function at all, they must lock up their populations behind iron curtains or other more or less impermeable barriers. The mixed market economies struggle to find ways to intrude politically determined priorities into their market systems without catching a bad case of the "English disease" or being frustrated by the American-type legal sprawl. The Japanese, of course, do not have all the answers. But given the fact that virtually all solutions to any of the critical problems of the late twentieth century―energy supply, environmental protection, technological innovation, and so forth―involve an expansion of official bureaucracy, the particular Japanese priorities and procedures are instructive. At the very least they should forewarn a foreign observer that the Japanese achievements were not won without a price being paid.
Get the REALLY BIG picture with Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not. The short answer: It's because Barbarians on horses (or ships) are fully capable of taking over giant, advanced empires. It happened all the time through history… The Mongols, and then Manchus, taking over China. The Moguls taking over India. And so on. Britain taking over the India and China was just part of that same tradition. It's a sucker punch, but it works. The internal ruling class tends not even to mind, because they're so sick of their own rulers. That helps the invaders. The barbarians move into the palace and soon become locals. But the Industrial revolution changed the pattern and made this kind of conquest incredibly destructive for the conquered. Because of the industrial revolution and the nationalist project that had begun in Britain, the conquerors now merely wanted to extract resources to feed coal-powered factories back home that sucked more wealth back to the whole British People. And why did the Industrial Revolution get started in the first place? To compete with the overwhelming dominance of Chinese and Indian industry (much like Japan and now China leaping ahead of the US in industrial innovation). So there you have it.
And why didn't Africa or the Americas develop empires as big as Eurasia? Well, it would be nice to go with Julius Nyerere's explanation: That Africans and Americans were just better at upholding socialism for longer! But the answer is probably less glamorous: Only Eurasia had horses!
There is definitely something confidence-eroding about Diamond's pop-science approach to big history. But he does tell a good, detailed story.
Posted on January 25, 2018 December 9, 2018 Author admin


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Archive Review: Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign (2013)
When blues guitarist Albert King signed with Stax Records in 1966, he was a known commodity on the blues circuit, but not yet a star, much less an artist with crossover potential. Based in St. Louis during the late 1950s and early '60s, King was a popular draw throughout the Midwest U.S. and had recorded sides for labels like King Records, Vee-Jay, Parrot Records, and others and had even released a full-length album, 1962's The Big Blues, to little acclaim.
Working in the Stax Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee with the label's house band, Booker T & the MG's – keyboardist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, and drummer Al Jackson, Jr. – along with Stax songwriter Isaac Hayes and Wayne Jackson and his Memphis Horns, King recorded a bunch of songs between March 1966 and November 1967 that would later comprise his Stax debut album, Born Under A Bad Sign. Widely considered as one of King's career milestones, the album would bring the guitarist's unique vision of the blues to a white rock 'n' roll audience and influence young musicians like Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign
The album starts out big and bold, the familiar strains of the title song kicking out the jams with reckless aplomb as King's throaty vocals and equally vocal guitar licks moan their tale of woe. King takes a familiar blues theme – that of the luckless loser, the hapless gambler, the failed ladies man – and pumps it up with his stinging notes riding high above Steve Cropper's tasteful rhythm guitar and Booker T. Jones' background keyboards. "Crosscut Saw" would be equally as audacious, the song's jaunty rhythm bolstered by the rhythmic muscle provided by the Memphis Horns. King's guitar playing here is just as grand as on the opening tune, if not more so, displaying more texture and a fluid grace, but the vocals are weak and sound washed out.
The frequently-covered Leiber/Stoller R&B classic "Kansas City" is provided an appropriately swinging arrangement, King sleep-walking his almost-spoken vocals atop a rich soundtrack dominated by the Memphis Horns and "Duck" Dunn's gorgeous walking bass line. Again, whether due to problems with the original tape or the primitive recording technology, King's voice unintentionally drops into the background at times, but his lively fretwork bursts above the mix nonetheless. King's original "Down Don't Bother Me" is an extension, of sorts, of the title track, pursuing a similar hard-luck lyrical tale, but the guitarist's playing here is phenomenal, meshing perfectly with Perkins' horns and Al Jackson's sparse percussion to great effect. King's vocals are better-balanced here, providing the right amount of emotion to match his anguished guitarplay.
Laundromat Blues
Blues legend Albert King
King tackles the well-traveled Booker T. & the MGs' composition "The Hunter," which would later be covered by folks from Free to Koko Taylor, the guitarist adding a bit of bravado to his vocal performance. While the song's double-and-triple-entendre lyrics are pretty frisky when left on their own, King's deep voice and deeper blue guitar playing add gravitas to the recording. A cover of Ivory Joe Hunter's "I Almost Lost My Mind" displays King's versatility as a singer; his somber, heartbroken vocals bring a strong emotion to the words as his subtle guitar lines tell the rest of the story. "Laundromat Blues" is another gem in King's catalog, a straight-forward blues-as-betrayal tune that channels the romantic woe into a fine vocal performance and tearful fretwork that sizzles with barely-contained rage and frustration.
The 2013 Stax Records reissue of Born Under A Bad Sign offers five bonus tracks in the form of previously-unreleased alternate takes and an untitled instrumental. The first (unused) take of the title track reveals a few differences but otherwise hits every mark as the take that ended up on the album; by contrast, the alternate take of "Crosscut Saw" includes an extra chorus tacked on the end, features a stronger King vocal performance, and all the houserockin' guitar banging of the original. The bonus version of "The Hunter" also seems more muscular and self-assured, but the album-closing "Untitled Instrumental" is a revelation, King laying the smackdown on a fatback rhythmic groove, the soulful Memphis horns slung low beneath the guitarist's raging leads, which run amok across the loose-knit studio jam.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
My colleague Bill Dahl sums it up best in his new liner notes for Born Under A Bad Sign, stating that King would "make more great Stax albums, but he'd never top this one." King's performances here are those of a hungry man ready to feast on the world, and they would create an artistic blueprint that the guitarist would hew closely to for the remainder of his career. Although the digital re-mastering provided this 2013 reissue hasn't cleaned up all of the original audio issues, it has brightened the performances and added extra depth to the sound.
The songs themselves – "Born Under A Bad Sign," "Crosscut Saw," "The Hunter," "Personal Manager," and "Laundromat Blues," the album's first hit single – would become part of King's canon, superb performances that influenced a generation of blues and blues-rock guitarists to follow. A bona fide classic of electric blues, if you don't have a copy of King's Born Under A Bad Sign in your collection, then you don't have squat! (Stax Records, reissued April 2, 2013)
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign
Posted by Rev. Keith A. Gordon at Friday, July 31, 2020 No comments:
Labels: #bluesmusic, Albert King, Archive Review, blues guitar, Stax Records
Vinyl Review: Big Bill Broonzy's The Midnight Special (2020)
The Midnight Special: Live In Nottingham 1957
1. This Train
2. Trouble In Mind
3. Willie Mae
4. In the Evening
5. Glory of Love
6. The Midnight Special
7. What King of Man Jesus Is
1. Keep Your Hand Off It
2. Nobody's Business
3. Hey! Bub
4. The Feasting Table
6. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Chicago Blues Legend Big Bill Broonzy
Chicago blues legend "Big Bill" Broonzy was a bridge between the rural, Delta-influenced country blues of the 1920s and '30s and the more urbane, sophisticated "big city" blues created in hotbeds like Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis during the 1940s and '50s. Although not as well-known as near-mythical contemporaries like Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, or even Son House, Broonzy's influence can be heard in the music of those touched by his kindness, giants of the genre like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, whose careers he helped when they first arrived in Chicago. Although he died in 1958 at the age of 65 years old, Broonzy's music also inspired a generation of British rockers like Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, John Lennon of the Beatles, Dave Davies of the Kinks, and guitarists Rory Gallagher and Eric Clapton, among many others.
Born, literally, on the banks of the Mississippi River, Broonzy moved with his parents to Chicago as a teenager in 1920, picking up the guitar and learning to play from older bluesmen like Papa Charlie Jackson. Broonzy began recording in the mid-'20s and by the early '30s he was a commanding figure on the Chicago blues scene who would help define the city's early sound. Capable of playing in both the older vaudeville styles (ragtime and hokum) and the newly-developing, more sophisticated Chicago style, Broonzy was a smooth vocalist, accomplished guitarist, and a prolific songwriter.
Broonzy began recording for Paramount in 1927, but it was his work for Bluebird Records during the 1930s, including playing behind talents like Tampa Red, Washboard Sam, and John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, that helped define the popular sound that was known as "The Bluebird Beat." In 1938, Broonzy performed at John Hammond's "Spirituals To Swing" concert in New York City as a last-minute replacement for the late Delta bluesman Robert Johnson. The appearance introduced an entirely new audience to his music, winning him a small role in the film Swingin' The Dream alongside Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong. When the post-war blues boom rendered Broonzy's quaint homegrown style a thing of the past, he re-invented himself as a singer of authentic folk-blues and became one of the first blues artists to tour Europe, developing a new and appreciative following among blues-crazed British teens.
Big Bill Broonzy's The Midnight Special: Live In Nottingham 1957
Chicago bluesman Big Bill Broonzy
The Midnight Special: Live In Nottingham 1957 documents one of Broonzy's late-career concerts, this one in Nottingham, England and possibly one of the bluesman's last-ever performances before his death a year later. The album was mastered from original analog tape by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and is surprisingly good, given the antiquated vintage of the recording. A sound engineer can only work with what they have on tape, and recordings from the '50s generally don't have much sonic dynamic to enhance, but Gardner did a fine job here, Broonzy's vocals and guitar sounding slightly muffled, but distinct enough to be entertaining and better than many dodgy 1990s-era live recordings I've heard. And make no mistake, Broonzy's performance this night was, indeed, very entertaining.
The folk-blues "songster" runs through a setlist here of blues, folk, and Gospel standards, imbuing each with his unique character and charisma. The traditional "This Train" is a perfect showcase for Broonzy's nimble-fingered fretwork, the song's up-tempo arrangement complimented by Broonzy's hearty vocals. The bluesman's original "Willie Mae" is a similarly upbeat tune with wiry guitar licks and moaned lyrics while a cover of Leroy Carr's "In the Evening" is provided a smoldering, passionate vocal delivery that is punctuated by Broonzy's jazzy picking. "The Midnight Special" is a traditional Southern folk tune popularized in the 1930s by the great Leadbelly, and later recorded by everybody from Bob Dylan and Little Richard to the Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Broonzy's jaunty reading of the old chestnut is highlighted by his warm vocals and spry guitar strum.
Broonzy's original "Keep Your Hands Off Her" is mistitled here, the song originally released as a single in 1935 by Bluebird Records and it's a fine example of the light-hearted "hokum" blues style with buoyant guitar picking and upbeat, double-entendre lyrics. The traditional "Ain't Nobody's Business" was recorded with some success by blueswomen like Alberta Hunter and Bessie Smith in the 1920s, and Broonzy's version here plays up the song's vaudeville roots with a brilliantly-upbeat performance and jazzy guitar-playing. "The Feasting Table" is one of a handful of Gospel "spirituals" included on The Midnight Special, this one leaning more towards a raucous tent revival in its energetic reading and scattershot guitarplay.
Although the song's true origins are shrouded in mystery, Broonzy released "C.C. Rider" (a/k/a "See See Rider") as a single in 1934. Ragtime pianist Jelly Roll Morton recalled hearing the song as far back as 1901, and Broonzy claims to have been taught the song by a former slave when he was but 10 years old. The song is no worse for the wear, however, and Broonzy's infectious reading here is enhanced by an inspired mix of blues, jazz, and country twang. The Midnight Special closes with two performances from an "informal backstage session," the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and Leadbelly's folk-blues standard "Goodnight Irene." The former is a reverent, fervid performance with Broonzy's wailing voice staggering at first before breaking into a joyous noise while the latter song is provided a loose, almost rowdy reading with nearly-bellowed vocals and scraps of accompanying guitar.
Big Bill Broonzy's The Midnight Special: Live In Nottingham 1957 offers an impressive representation of the artist's immense instrumental talents, his on-stage presence and crowd-pleasing patter, and his innate ability to interpret a wide range of then-contemporary musical styles. As mentioned above, the album's sound quality is better than one could hope for, and the artist's performance displays why Broonzy was held in such high regard by his peers.
There is precious little "live" Broonzy available for blues fans; just a mere handful of albums now commanding collectors' prices, and just one of a similar vintage – Southland's The Historic Concert Recordings CD captures an 18-song Belgium performance from 1957 – which was released in 1990 and has been out-of-print nearly as long. Org Music's vinyl release of The Midnight Special is the first appearance of this particular show that I could find, and is available on both shiny black wax from Org Music or pressed on coral-colored vinyl, available exclusively from Vinyl Me, Please (links to both below).
If you're an old-school blues fan unfamiliar with the artist's charms, you owe it to yourself to check out The Midnight Special, which provides an engaging introduction to Big Bill Broonzy. If you're already a fan of Broonzy's music, then what are you waiting for? Get it! (Org Music, released July 24th, 2020)
Buy the vinyl! Org Music link
Buy the colored wax! Vinyl Me, Please link
Posted by Rev. Keith A. Gordon at Sunday, July 19, 2020 No comments:
Labels: #bluesmusic, #vinylrecords, Big Bill Broonzy, Chicago blues, live LP, Org Music, Vinyl Review
Archive Review: Bo Diddley's The Black Gladiator (1970/2012)
By the late 1960s, Bo Diddley wasn't the musical force that he'd been almost a decade previous when cuts like "Road Runner" and "You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover" were burning up the R&B world even while they also inched onto the pop charts. Even worse, Diddley-influenced acolytes like the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton had become the new rock 'n' roll royalty, leaving Bo as a respected elder statesman and the architect of a revolution that he seemingly no longer had a role in shaping.
As a result, Diddley would turn back to his blues roots, recording a pair of albums with other Chess labelmates that re-purposed several of his rhythm-heavy hits with bluesier performances – 1967's Super Blues, with Muddy Waters and Little Walter, and 1968's The Super Super Blues Band, with Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Neither of these albums did much to revive the flagging careers of the various participants and, in 1969, the unexpected happened when Leonard Chess, the patriarch of the Chess Records family, passed away. The label had already been sold to a company that had little or no idea what to do with its legendary catalog of music, or its rich stable of artists, further marginalizing Diddley's career.
Bo Diddley's The Black Gladiator
When he entered Chicago's Ter-Mar Studios in January 1970, the mighty Bo was faced with a daunting task – recording a follow-up to his last solo album, 1965's 500% More Man. Black music hadn't been standing still as Diddley was singing the blues with his fellow Chess label colleagues, and the popularity of both blues music and the sort of raucous, houserockin' R&B that Diddley pioneered had been surpassed with young African-American listeners by the groove-laden funk of Sly & the Family Stone and the Parliament-Funkadelic empire. Similar to what had been done with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf in attempting to re-mold the old-school bluesmen as psychedelic-blues artists, The Black Gladiator saw Bo Diddley staking his claim as a funkateer in the new decade.
Disregarded by critics at the time, Diddley's The Black Gladiator was a bold attempt at contemporary legitimacy by the often-misunderstood artist. Unlike Waters' similarly-dismissed Electric Mud album, or even the Wolf's This Is Howlin' Wolf's New Album, both of which tried to force the bluesmen into a stylistic straitjacket against their will, Diddley seemed to be a willing traveler on this particular musical sojourn. Working with a crew that included such long-time Diddley musical foils as bassist Chester Lindsey and drummer Clifton James, keyboardist Bobby Alexis was the lone new ingredient for this fresh musical direction, and his over-the-top key-pounding would often vie with, and push Diddley's guitar-playing to new heights.
To be honest, The Black Gladiator is neither as bad as 1970s-era critics would claim, nor as seminal as the album's newfound 21st century admirers would have you believe. It didn't take a major leap of imagination to take Diddley's rhythmic trademarks and stretch them out in the creation of a deeper, fatter groove, as the band does with the album-opening "Elephant Man." Seemingly drowning in a sea of sound, the rhythm section builds a foundation on top of which Diddley sings/shouts his often-bodacious lyrics above his stinging guitar licks and Alexis's chiming keyboards. The song evinces a slick groove and an undeniable anarchic spirit, and Diddley's fretwork is truly inspired. The album's lone throwback, "You, Bo Diddley," is the sort of self-aggrandizing rap that Diddley made his reputation with, but while it sports a semi-modified Bo Diddley beat and energetic backing vocals, it's at best a pale imitation of similar early 1960s performances.
Hot Buttered Blues
Much better is the fluid, funky "Black Soul," which pairs raw production with a more assured Diddley vocal, Alexis's livewire keyboard riffs, and a groove deep enough to drive a semi-truck through. Diddley's wiry chicken-picking is supported by solid rhythm playing from an unknown second guitarist (thought to be his nephew, Ricky Jolivet a/k/a Bo Diddley Jr.). The muscular "Power House" offers the best of both worlds, welding a slowed-down version of the familiar swaggering Diddley beat with a fine, boastful vocal turn, scorching fretwork, and a swinging rhythm.
"I've Got A Feeling" opened the original vinyl album's second side with an infectious funk that rivaled Sly Stone, the slightly-echoed production style providing a more immediate sound. Alexis's often-discordant keys are part of the bass-drums cacophony upon which Bo embroiders some imaginative guitar lines as the vocals of backing singer Cooke Vee (Cornelia Redmond) were multi-tracked to create a "girl group" sound on a budget, an effective technique. The slow-burning "Hot Buttered Blues" is Bo's lone nod towards the blues music he cut his teeth on, a loping groove rolling throughout the song as Bo ladles on some fine guitar in this ode to the Chicago blues scene.
Another of the album's long-lost gems is "Funky Fly," a blues-rock-funk hybrid with a greasy Mississippi Delta groove, a mesmerizing circular guitar riff that is often echoed by the keyboards, a jackhammer rhythm, and nonsensical shouts and noises that punctuate the song's deadly instrument jamming. By contrast, "I Don't Like You" is an odd bird, indeed, Diddley's vocals mimicking an operatic aria, sounding like a cross between Bugs Bunny and Pavarotti. At the heart of the song is a game of "the numbers" as Bo and a second, higher-pitched voice hurl insults at each other above a slippery groove and choogling keyboards. The effect is disconcerting and absurd even for Diddley, who was certainly no stranger to musical flights of fancy.
It's safe to say that you've never heard Bo Diddley quite like this before! Out of the ten tracks on The Black Gladiator, six are fully-satisfying performances that display Bo's larger than life personality and often-underrated musical skills, as well as the talents of his top-notch backing band. A couple of the songs here are merely so-so, passable but more filler-like in quality, and a couple of these tunes will chafe your eardrums.
It's interesting to note that after releasing this album, Diddley would abandon his funk muse in an attempt to re-make himself as a contemporary songster with 1971's Another Dimension album before finally returning to the blues, soul, and R&B on which his legacy was built. Overall, in re-considering The Black Gladiator, I'd give the album a B- for sheer chutzpah and a handful of innovative musical ideas. It's not the Bo of lore, but it ain't half-bad, either... (Light In The Attic Records, reissued 2012)
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Bo Diddley's The Black Gladiator
Also on That Devil Music: Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters & Little Walter's Super Blues CD review
Labels: #bluesmusic, Archive Review, Bo Diddley, Chess Records, Light In The Attic Records
Archive Review: Tommy Castro & the Painkillers' The Devil You Know (2014)
At this point in time, bluesman Tommy Castro is pretty much a familiar face, as big a superstar one can be in the blues genre for anyone not named "Waters," "Wolf," "Walter," or "Guy." Some 20 years after the release of his debut album, with twelve studio and live recordings to his name; with half a dozen Blues Music Awards earned on a dozen nominations, including two "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year" honors, if you're a blues fan and you don't know Castro by now, the only question that remains is what rock you've been living under the past couple of decades.
That's not to say that Castro is a dinosaur or deaf to changes in the genre that he's helped define over the years. Neither is Castro immune to trends – cultural and economic – and while there was some minor carping a year or so ago when he broke up his long-running Tommy Castro Band to assemble a leaner and meaner outfit in the Painkillers, the new band is OK by me. With a TCB holdover in bassist Randy McDonald, Castro added keyboardist James Pace and drummer Byron Cage and was with these Painkillers that he went into the studio to record The Devil You Know. A welcome change of pace, the new album retains all the stuff that fans loved about Castro and mixes it up with a fresh, stripped-down sound that is raw, rockin', and more immediate than the BMA winning Hard Believer album, which was released five years and a virtual lifetime ago.
Tommy Castro & the Painkillers' The Devil You Know
The title track of The Devil You Know is indicative of Castro's new direction, which isn't all that much different from his old direction – just dirtier, nastier, and bluesier with no horns and a distinct Delta groove running like the Mississippi River beneath the arrangement. Castro's rattletrap guitar scrapes and swoons in the heat of the performance, the band crashing and clashing behind its frontman in making a glorious, rhythmic noise. Castro's slight electronically-altered vocals are befitting the lyrics, adding a bit of chaos to the affair, a discomforting disconnect bolstered by his screaming, razor-sharp guitar solos and blustery vocals.
Castro changes directions on a dime with "Second Wind," a funky, West Coast R&B inflected romp that reminds of 1960s-era Cali bands like Sons of Champlin mixed with Southern blues-eyed soul revues like Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. The song's vigorous percussion hints at an exotic, Latin-flavored rhythm while Castro's slippery vocals and lively fretwork dance atop the song's deep groove. A cover of former Savoy Brown frontman Chris Youlden's "I'm Tired" is a rhythmic blues-rocker notable mostly for guest picker Joe Bonamassa's riptide guitar licks, Castro's forceful, gruff vocals, and the amazing guitar interplay between the two talents. The song itself was nothing special until these two forces of nature laid a little grease in the grooves, turning it into a bona fide barn burner…
When I Cross The Mississippi
Tommy Castro photo by Steve Sherman
A cover of Chicago blues legend J.B. Lenoir's "The Whale Have Swallowed Me" builds upon what was great about the original – the song's imaginative lyrics, its spry foot-shuffling groove, languid guitarplay – by adding a heaping helping of James Pace's tinkling ivories, Tasha Taylor's vocals (which compliment Castro's grittier tones), and Castro's taut guitar licks. This is the sort of big-boned R&B romp that the Tedeschi Trucks Band has build its rep on, and Tommy and Tasha knock it out of the park with glee.
"When I Cross The Mississippi" is a curious hybrid, some of the song's blusier elements a throwback to early 1970s sounds while dancing partner Tab Benoit brings his guitar and a contemporary Louisiana R&B feel to the tune. The chemistry between Benoit and Castro is heightened by Mike Finnigan's chiming keyboards and drummer Byron Cage's relentless big-beat timekeeping. Now that Castro has everybody warmed up and ready to roll, we rock right into "Mojo Hannah," a greasy garage-blues number with a New Orleans vibe written by Andre Williams. Joined by the great Marcia Ball on vocals and piano, Castro and his Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue bandmate raise the roof with an energetic, fun, and raucous take on the song that crackles with electricity.
Keep On Smilin'
Castro's original "Two Steps Forward" is a thunderstorm blues-rocker that would have been right at home in the late 1960s British blues boom. A monster riff leads into Castro's bellowing vocals, the song suddenly breaking into a too-cool-for-school soul party with the Holmes Brothers adding righteous backing vocals and Magic Dick channeling the spirits of Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson with his quicksilver harp runs. Castro gets into a bit of the supernatural himself with "She Wanted To Give It To Me," his soaring solos blasting from your speakers like zombie Hendrix, his vocal gymnastics matched by a stomping, stammering rhythm that joyfully bludgeons your ears from the first note.
An inspired cover of Wet Willie's 1970s-era Southern rock classic "Keep On Smilin'" is spot-on; the band laying down a soulful bedrock for Castro's fine vocals with Mike Duke's subtle keyboard flourishes riding low beneath the well-oiled rhythms. Castro's guitarwork doesn't get to shine until around three-minutes in, when his solo intertwines with guest guitarist Mark Karan to recreate a beautiful twin-guitar sound reminiscent of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts. Castro's voice takes a backseat altogether on "Medicine Woman," the talented Ms. Samantha Fish taking the lead here and imbuing the song with an incredible energy and vitality. As good a guitarist as Fish is – and it would have been good to hear her play here – as a singer she simply sets the song on fire as her vocals fly high above Castro's flamethrower git licks, Pace's tasty keyboards, and the hypnotic, syncopated rhythms. All the song's elements combine to create a bit of real musical magic.
The Devil You Know is Tommy Castro as you've never heard him before, two decades of hard-won experience and thousands of miles of roadwork combined in the creation of a career-defining work. As a producer, Castro proves to have a deft hand on the controls, The Devil You Know showcasing his frequently-underrated vocals and definitely overlooked six-string skills. If you're familiar with Castro, you may want to give him another listen, and if you're a blues newcomer, The Devil You Know is an entertaining, highly-rocking introduction to the charms, charisma, and talents of Tommy Castro. (Alligator Records, released January 21, 2014)
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Tommy Castro & the Painkillers' The Devil You Know
Labels: #bluesmusic, Alligator Records, Archive Review, Tommy Castro
It's July and summer is in full-swing, and while many labels have pulled new LPs from their heavy-hitters until the fall, when things may have calmed down a bit, that doesn't mean that there isn't a bunch of groovy tunes coming our way this month. There are new albums from Americana legends Ray Wylie Hubbard (recorded with friends like Joe Walsh and Larkin Poe) and the Jayhawks, 1980s rock icons the Pretenders and the Psychedelic Furs; as well as prog-rock from Steve Howe, hip-hop from The Streets, and post-punk from Gang of Four, to name but a few. The archival releases are hopping, too, with R&B classics from James Booker and Irma Thomas, a long-overdue compilation album from Bill Kirchen, a long overdue reissue of the too-cool-for-school Flamin' Groovies album Now, and much more!
Release dates are probably gonna change and nobody tells me when they do. If you're interesting in buying an album, just hit the 'Buy!' link to get it from Amazon.com...it's just that damn easy! Your purchase puts valuable 'store credit' in the Reverend's pocket that he'll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock 'n' roll ecstasy! If you're boycotting Amazon and don't have an indie record store close by, may we suggest shopping with our friends at Grimey's Music in Nashville? They have a great selection of vinyl available by mail order, offer quick service, and if you don't see what you want on their website, check out their Discogs shop!
The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers BUY!
The Flamin' Groovies - Now BUY!
Glass Animals - Dreamland BUY!
Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead: 50th Anniversary Edition [3-CD box] BUY!
Ray Wylie Hubbard - Co-Starring BUY!
The Jayhawks - XOXO BUY!
The Streets - None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive BUY!
Rufus Wainwright - Unfollow the Rules BUY!
Gang of Four - Anti Hero BUY!
Laraaji - Sun Piano BUY!
The Pretenders - Hate For Sale BUY!
The Shaggs - Shaggs' Own Thing [vinyl reissue] BUY!
Jon Hassell - Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two) BUY!
Bill Kirchen - The Proper Years [two-disc retrospective] BUY!
James Booker - Classified [vinyl reissue] BUY!
The Coronas - True Love Waits BUY!
Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death BUY!
Steve Howe - Love Is BUY!
The Psychedelic Furs - Made of Rain BUY!
Irma Thomas - After the Rain [vinyl reissue] BUY!
Album of the Month: Hands down, I gotta go with the long-overdue CD reissue of the Flamin' Groovies' Now! The band's 1978 follow-up to the transcendent Shake Some Action, it found the Groovies hitting the reset button with new guitarist Mike Wilhelm (The Charlatans) on a set comprised largely of covers of songs from the Beatles, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Rolling Stones, and Cliff Richard. There are a few new original tunes by bandleader Cyril Jordan, but overall it felt like the band was trying to find its footing again after delivering a trio of classic rock 'n' roll discs in the early-to-mid-70s.
Still, Now has been out-of-print on CD for roughly 15 years, so it's good to get it back. Plus, next month our friends at MVD will be reissuing the Groovies' 1979 LP, Jumpin' In the Night. Now, if only some archival label would get around to reissuing those late '70s Roy Loney & the Phantom Strangers albums, all would be good with the world...
Posted by Rev. Keith A. Gordon at Wednesday, July 01, 2020 No comments:
Labels: #newreleases, Bill Kirchen, Gang of Four, Grateful Dead, Irma Thomas, James Booker, New Music Monthly, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Steve Howe, The Flamin' Groovies, The Jayhawks, The Pretenders, The Psychedelic Furs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I finally was able to upgrade to an iPhone4s. I love it. More Skywatch Friday sites are here.
We have another race tomorrow. Its the 5 & 10 mile White Rock and Roll at Winfrey Point. Brian and I will be running the 10 mile course.
The Dallas Arboretum is trying to turn Winfrey Point into a temporary parking lot to handle overflow parking. A temporary restraining order has been ordered to prevent the Arboretum from using the area for parking, but a judge will rule today about lifting the order. If that happens a large portion of Winfrey Point will be mowed and used for parking. Not only will they plow over wild flowers and grasslands, but it will increase traffic in an area that's going to have over 1000 runners tomorrow morning and hundreds of runners and bicyclists each weekend.
The Arboretum said this is temporary to handle crowds for a Chihuly exhibits. Its also being reported that there are plans to build a two story permanent parking garage on the land.


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Juvenile Indigent Defense Delivery System
Rhode Island provides counsel to indigent youth through a statewide public defense system. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-58. The juvenile division of the Rhode Island Office of the Public Defender represents youth in delinquency and wayward proceedings. The system is entirely funded by the state. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 12-15-7. Conflict representation is handled by private attorneys appointed directly by the trial judge and funded by the state.
Rhode Island has no statutorily required or recommended training requirements or standards for attorneys representing youth in delinquency proceedings.
In addition to statutes and case law, juvenile court proceedings are governed by court rules. These are often promulgated at the state level, but may also be passed at the local court level instead of or in addition to statewide rules. Rhode Island's juvenile courts are governed by the Rhode Island Rules of Juvenile Proceedings.
Right to Counsel
Beyond the right to counsel in juvenile court guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution and In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), states often have state constitution or statutory provisions further expanding upon on or delineating that right.
In Rhode Island, youth have the right to counsel in any Family Court hearing. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-31. Youth specifically have the right to counsel at the following stages of delinquency proceedings:
Informal adjustment procedures. R.I. R. Juv. Proc. 4.
Hearing on temporary detention. R.I. R. Juv. Proc. 8(b).
Arraignment. R.I. R. Juv. Proc. 9(a).
Waiver of jurisdiction (transfer) hearings. R.I. R. Juv. Proc. 12(b)(2).
"Prior to the commencement of any hearing," the court shall inform the relevant parties of their right to counsel and their right to have a public defender appointed if they are indigent. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-31. Notice of the right to counsel is provided in the summons for a hearing on a petition. R.I. R. Juv. P., Rule 6.
Determination of Indigence
Prior to the initial hearing, the court must inform the child of their right to a public defender if their parent or guardian is financially unable to retain counsel. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-31. At the direction of the court, a public defender shall appear in court to represent the indigent youth. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-31. In cases where youth are emancipated, or estranged from their families, or where the petition is filed by a parent, the youth's financial eligibility is determined based upon their own assets. Applicants for public defense services must submit an affidavit of financial status R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 12-15-9. The public defender office, on its own initiative or at the court's request, may require additional information or conduct an investigation. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 12-15-9. The public defender makes the determination of eligibility. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 12-15-9.
Waiver of Counsel
Rhode Island does not have a specific juvenile statute or rule addressing a youth's waiver of counsel. Case law indicates that waiver of counsel by indigent youth is permitted but should not routinely be allowed. In re John D., 479 A.2d 1173, 1178 (R.I. 1984). In general, the validity of a youth's waiver of rights is assessed based on the totality of the circumstances. In re Kean, 520 A.2d 1271, 1276 (R.I. 1987). Adult case law indicates that waiver of counsel can be permitted if it is knowing, voluntary and intelligent. State v. Chabot, 682 A.2d 1377, 1379 (R.I. 1996).
Detention Provisions
When and how the court may decide to detain a child or otherwise place restrictions on the child's freedom is defined by statute and court rules. In Rhode Island, a detention hearing must occur on the next court day following detention of the child. R.I. R. Juv. Proc. 8(a). If counsel is not available to consult with the child, the court may order one day of detention to allow the child to consult with an attorney, and depending on the county, may detain the child for up to seven days following the attorney consultation. R.I. R. Juv. Proc. 8(b). Such temporary detention must be followed by a probable cause hearing within five to seven days, depending on the county. R.I. R. Juv. Proc. 8(c).
The U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court case law are also sources of due process rights beyond local and state statutes and provisions. NJDC's Detention Page provides more information about detaining youth.
Post-Disposition Advocacy
The legal needs of children in the delinquency system rarely end at disposition, and states vary in the way they provide a right to representation on these post-disposition issues. Rhode Island statutes list no post-disposition proceedings at which youth have a right to counsel.
NJDC's Post-Disposition Page has more information on this topic from a national perspective.
Ages of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
The age of a youth who comes within the jurisdiction of the state's juvenile courts is defined by state law. In Rhode Island:
No statute specifies the youngest age at which a young person can be adjudicated delinquent.
Juvenile court has jurisdiction over offenses alleged to have been committed prior to a child's 18th birthday; after age 18, the youth is charged in adult court. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-6(a).
Provided that the offense alleged to have been committed occurred before the youth turned 18 and the youth is not discharged prior to becoming 19, the juvenile court can retain jurisdiction over them until they are 19. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-6(f).
Despite the existence of juvenile courts, many youth are still tried as adults. Rhode Island has two ways that youth can be prosecuted as adults:
Discretionary Waiver:
The juvenile court shall hold a waiver hearing, upon motion by the Attorney General, for any youth charge with a crime that would be punishable by life imprisonment had it been committed by an adult, or for any youth age 16 or older charged with any offense constituting a felony. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-7(a)-(b).
Any child who is 16 or older who has been adjudicated delinquent for two offenses after turning 16 shall be certified to be in criminal court. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-7.2(c).
Once an Adult, Always an Adult: A waiver into adult court constitutes a waiver for the charged offense as well as all other pending and future offenses. If the youth is acquitted for the offense that triggered the waiver, the waiver will be vacated. R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 14-1-7.1(c).
NJDC conducts statewide assessments of access to counsel and the quality of juvenile defense representation in delinquency proceedings around the country. These assessments provide a state with baseline information about the nature and efficacy of its juvenile indigent defense structures, highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the indigent juvenile defense system, and provide tailored recommendations that address each state's distinctive characteristics to help decision-makers focus on key trouble spots and highlight best practices. The NJDC State Assessment Page provides more information about state assessments.
NJDC has not yet conducted an assessment of the juvenile indigent defense system in Rhode Island. If you would like to collaborate with NJDC to fundraise for, plan, or engage in an assessment in this state, please contact us.
Current through July 2018.
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As an historical building of the baroque period, the Wolkenburg is a unique and central event location in Cologne. Wolkenburg is situated in the middle of the City in a quiet park, but only a stone's throw away from the bustling business center around Neumarkt, Central Street and Schildergasse.
Equally unique, is the easy accessibility by all means of transportation. Sufficient parking is available in close proximity (eg Lungengasse and around Neumarkt).
The nearby "Neumarkt" is the main hub of the Cologne transport network, which is served by nine tramlines and bus routes.
From here you can walk the short distance to Wolkenburg, or travel one stop with the tram line 9 to Mauritiuskirchplatz which is situated directly next to Wolkenburg.
If you have any queries concerning the planning and execution of your event, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our events team provides advice and support right from the planning stage.


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Birth Day: 11 July 1920
Birth Place: Vladivostok, Primorskaya Oblast, Far Eastern Republic [now Primorsky Krai, Russia]
Exotic leading man of American films, famed as much for his completely bald head as for his performances, Yul Brynner masked much of his life in mystery and outright lies designed to tease people he considered gullible. It was not until the publication of the books "Yul: The Man Who Would Be King" and "Empire and Odyssey" by his son, Yul "Rock" Brynner, that many of the details of Brynner's early life became clear. Yul sometimes claimed to be a half-Swiss, half-Japanese named Taidje Khan, born on the island of Sakhalin; in reality, he was the son of Marousia Dimitrievna (Blagovidova), the Russian daughter of a doctor, and Boris Yuliyevich Bryner, an engineer and inventor of Swiss-German and Russian descent. He was born in their home town of Vladivostok on 11 July 1920 and named Yuli after his grandfather, Jules Bryner. When Yuli's father abandoned the family, his mother took him and his sister Vera to Harbin, Manchuria, where they attended a YMCA school. In 1934 Yuli's mother took her children to Paris. Her son was sent to the exclusive Lycée Moncelle, but his attendance was spotty. He dropped out and became a musician, playing guitar in the nightclubs among the Russian gypsies who gave him his first real sense of family. He met luminaries such as Jean Cocteau and became an apprentice at the Theatre des Mathurins. He worked as a trapeze artist with the famed Cirque d'Hiver company. He traveled to the U.S. in 1941 to study with acting teacher Michael Chekhov and toured the country with Chekhov's theatrical troupe. That same year, he debuted in New York as Fabian in "Twelfth Night" (billed as Youl Bryner). After working in a very early TV series, Mr. Jones and His Neighbors (1944), he played on Broadway in "Lute Song" with Mary Martin, winning awards and mild acclaim. He and his wife, actress Virginia Gilmore, starred in the first TV talk show, Mr. and Mrs. (1948). Brynner then joined CBS as a television director. He made his film debut in Port of New York (1949). Two years later Mary Martin recommended him for the part he would forever be known for: the King in Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein II's musical "The King and I". Brynner became an immediate sensation in the role, repeating it for film (The King and I (1956)) and winning the Oscar for Best Actor. For the next two decades, he maintained a starring film career despite the exotic nature of his persona, performing in a wide range of roles from Egyptian pharaohs to Western gunfighters, almost all with the same shaved head and indefinable accent. In the 1970s he returned to the role that had made him a star, and spent most of the rest of his life touring the world in "The King and I". When he developed lung cancer in the mid 1980s, he left a powerful public service announcement denouncing smoking as the cause, for broadcast after his death. The cancer and its complications, after a long illness, ended his life. Brynner was cremated and his ashes buried in a remote part of France, on the grounds of the Abbey of Saint-Michel de Bois Aubry, a short distance outside the village of Luzé. He remains one of the most fascinating, unusual and beloved stars of his time.
Οι Δέκα Εντολές – The Ten Commandments (1956) October 5, 1956


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Inked: Carlsbad tattoo show looks to break stereotypes
Adrian Hedden
The needle dug into Cameo Leisle's arm.
She gritted her teeth and waited.
The Carlsbad native took solace in the personal expression of her second tattoo: a dog skull with flowers.
"It hurts, but it lets you know you're alive," she said. "It's just art. It's just to be different."
To her right, Spartacus Durant — a man sporting horn-like implants on his forehead and a surgically split tongue — held the needle steady.
His face was awash in designs of his own, and he knew his customer's agony would be worth it in the end.
More:Carlsbad gets inked as national tattoo show comes to town
Durant started out as a tattoo artist about 10 years ago, he said, now the owner of New Level Tattoo Gallery in Dallas, Texas.
"The cool thing about tattoos is it's an individual expression. It's about being an individual," he said. "You look at someone's tattoos, and you know what they're about."
He was one of about 40 award-winning artists at the Colors Couture tattoo show Friday at the Walter Gerrells Performing Arts Center.
This year's three-day event, through Sunday, was the second Colours Couture show hosted at the center.
More:Music video to be filmed during CavernFest act
Aside from the tattoos – some designs which lasted up to six hours – the event featured musical performances, along with sideshows including skin suspensions and a bed of nails.
Founder Ryan Darnell said it was all about converging multiple forms of expression.
Also a music promoter, Darnell said the event could break down stigmas and stereotypes of tattoo culture, while bringing it to the mainstream.
"At the end of the day, it turns into a lifestyle," he said. "We promote bands. They all have tattoos. We said, 'let's merge the tattoo thing with the music thing.'
"We're trying to create a platform for tattoo artists to get out of their shops and have some fun."
With only three tattoo shops in Carlsbad, Darnell said the show could give Carlsbad residents and visitors a chance to experience world-renowned artists in a unique setting.
More:CavernFest keeps getting bigger
"As far as the existing scene here, it's very much in the scene," he said. "We're trying to bring it to the general public. We want them to feel comfortable."
But the public wasn't always accepting of tattoo culture.
Curtis McKinney, manager of the venue, said he hoped the event could show the people of Carlsbad that tattoos and artists are nothing to fear.
"It is one of the safest environments you could get a tattoo in," he said. "The shops are not getting inspected as hardcore as we have."
He said the first show last year was met with some backlash from the local community, but once the show was held, and people visited, he said the stigma was defeated.
Over the three-day festival, at least 2,000 people showed up.
That kind of turnout, McKinney said, proved that Carlsbad was accepting of the tattoo community.
"They didn't understand. Tattooing is a different kind of community," McKinney said. "When we did it, we had a great turnout. They accepted it."
More and more artists were interested in the return show, he said, and it grew to include local food vendors and merchandise tables.
More:Milton's Brewing expands business, music scene
"When you can have a group of people here, for them to come all the way is big for our community," he said. "People are coming from all over to get tattoos."
It's good timing, McKinney said, as interest in tattoos has grown in recent years.
"When I first started getting tattooed, you had to get over that people looked at you. You were basically a scuzzball," he said. "The culture as a whole is broadening. I think that stigma is almost gone."
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.