ABOUT RAR: For those of
you new to this site, "RAR" is Rick Alan Rice, the publisher
of the RARWRITER Publishing Group websites.
Use this link to visit the
RAR music page, which features original music
compositions and other.
ATWOOD - "A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliverance"-AVAILABLE
NOW FOR KINDLE (INCLUDING KINDLE COMPUTER APPS) FROM
AMAZON.COM.Use
this link.
CCJ Publisher Rick Alan Rice dissects
the building of America in a trilogy of novels
collectively calledATWOOD. Book One explores
the development of the American West through the
lens of public policy, land planning, municipal
development, and governance as it played out in one
of the new counties of Kansas in the latter half of
the 19th Century. The novel focuses on the religious
and cultural traditions that imbued the American
Midwest with a special character that continues to
have a profound effect on American politics to this
day. Book One creates an understanding about
America's cultural foundations that is further
explored in books two and three that further trace
the historical-cultural-spiritual development of one
isolated county on the Great Plains that stands as
an icon in the development of a certain brand of
American character. That's the serious stuff viewed
from high altitude. The story itself gets down and
dirty with the supernatural, which inATWOOD
- A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliveranceis the
outfall of misfires in human interactions, from the
monumental to the sublime.The
book features the epic poem"The
Toiler"as
well as artwork by New Mexico artist Richard
Padilla.
Elmore Leonard
Meets Larry McMurtry
Western Crime
Novel
I am offering another
novel through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service.
Cooksin is the story of a criminal syndicate that sets its
sights on a ranching/farming community in Weld County, Colorado,
1950. The perpetrators of the criminal enterprise steal farm
equipment, slaughter cattle, and rob the personal property of
individuals whose assets have been inventoried in advance and
distributed through a vast system of illegal commerce.
It is a ripping good yarn, filled
with suspense and intrigue. This was designed intentionally to
pay homage to the type of creative works being produced in 1950,
when the story is set. Richard Padilla
has done his usually brilliant work in capturing the look and feel of
a certain type of crime fiction being produced in that era. The
whole thing has the feel of those black & white films you see on
Turner Movie Classics, and the writing will remind you a little
of Elmore Leonard, whose earliest works were westerns.
Use this link.
EXPLORE THE KINDLE
BOOK LIBRARY
If you have not explored the books
available from Amazon.com's Kindle Publishing
division you would do yourself a favor to do so. You
will find classic literature there, as well as tons
of privately published books of every kind. A lot of
it is awful, like a lot of traditionally published
books are awful, but some are truly classics. You
can get the entire collection of Shakespeare's works
for two bucks.
Amazon is the largest,
but far from the only digital publisher. You can
find similar treasure troves atNOOK
Press(the
Barnes & Noble site),Lulu,
and others.
In 1968 there was a band called
"The Underbeats" in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Founder Jim
Johnson was drafted and sent to Vietnam and upon his return
the band was revamped and renamed "Gypsy". This incredibly progressive
band had wonderful harmonies, they were the house band at the Whisky a
Go Go in West Hollywood for 9 months, they toured with the
Guess Who, performed at the Atlanta
Pop Fest for 600,000 people on the 4th of July with the likes of
Jimi Hendrix, had four successful
album releases and had a huge fan base worldwide. Then in the midst of
this success the band seemed to vanish. What happened to this iconic
group?
Now
nearly 45 years later a documentary is being filmed that will be
released in 2016. Aaron Goodyear,
Director of his Independent project, talked to me about the documentary.
How did you get involved in this
project and how did the idea come about?
I was in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota eating at a
restaurant when a song came on the satellite radio station that was
being played in the restaurant. I thought I was hearing a song by
Santana because it was an instrumental part of the song. A minute or so
later the vocals came in and it was a three part harmonic Moody Blues
type of sound mixed with Latin infused instrumentals. I entered a few of
the lyrics I heard into my phone and it came up as "Gypsy Queen" by the
band Gypsy. A secondary internet search of Gypsy brought me to a
Wikipedia page that informed me that they were a Minnesota band who
moved to Los Angeles inn 1968. After a combination of frustration of not
being able to find info out on the band and curiosity of who these guys
were I contacted James Walsh and the idea was hatched from there. Since
then I have been put in touch with almost everyone who has ever been in
Gypsy.
Were you aware of Gypsy prior to
your involvement with the documentary?
No I was not. I had never heard of
Gypsy or The
Underbeats. They were well before my time, I was born in 1977
and grew up on early 90's rock, punk and metal, as well as the Stones,
The Band, The Beatles and Dylan, who my dad introduced me to at a young
age.
What has surprised you about the
history of Gypsy?
The most surprising thing to me about Gypsy is their
firsthand connections to four major world events. The first being
Enrico Rosenbaum's mother Ida escaping
a Nazi occupied Greece while her family perished at the hands of Hitler.
She is an amazing story in and of herself. When Gypsy was performing as
The Underbeats they performed a show in Osseo, MN on the day JFK was
assassinated. Thirdly Jim Johnson,
vocalist and guitarist was drafted and did a two year tour of duty in
Vietnam. Upon his return to Minnesota the Underbeats took off for LA.
The fourth connection they have is the house the band rented in LA
shared a property line with the home of The Labiancas who were murdered
by the Manson Family. They were playing a show at Gazarri's on The
Sunset Strip at the time of the murders but they were questioned
intensely and later cleared of any involvement. This is a special band
and their story deserves to be told so it doesn't slip through the
cracks of American rock history. Gypsy is one of the missing links of
American Rock & Roll.
Where can fans donate to help get
the documentary finished.
They can contact me at aarongoodyear@gmail.com and
www.facebook.com/gypsybandmovie. I will offer copies of the DVD or
digital downloads of the movie for donations.
GYPSIES: Jim
Johnson, drummer friend Scott Sansby (not a Gypsy band member) and Bill
Lordan at the Minnesota Rock and Country Hall of Fame ceremonies, in
which Gypsy was inducted as an honored member.
Your Are On a CCJ at RARWRITER
Special Features Page