Music Before the Money

“I believe that the soul is the deepest part of us. I believe it is the part that God wants us to be. I believe that our souls are not born fully developed and that this world, as Keats put it, is ‘the vale of soul-making.’ I think that this is largely a cognitive process, that the ego can try to cognate in harmony with the soul and with what William James called “the unseen order of things.”

 - Dr. Scott Peck

Another publication that added to my quest for self-awareness was Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978, the book that made his reputation and a staple in the human potential community. In my estimation it was his way to get people off the couch and healing themselves within. One of the key points he makes is a trait that was put down in the “me generation” of the 1970’s: discipline. Rather than an archaic practice he considers discipline the building block for emotional, spiritual and psychological well-being. Instead of instant-gratification Peck pushes for responsible gains through truth and balance.

Peck also deals with love, which he says spiritual growth needs to have. In other languages there are many other words and phrases which describe spiritual love but we just have one word. It is Like the word snow. The Inuits have almost 30 different names for it depending on the type. We have one.

As well he delves into abstracts such as unconscious and serendipity and how these are as important as factual knowledge.

“Miracles,” he says, “indicate that our growth as human beings is being assisted by a force other than our conscious will.”

As usual, when the unknown psychiatrist first tried to publish this book he was turned down because of the spirituality.” Simon & Schuster finally published the work for $7,500 but the book took off only after Mr. Peck began the lecture circuit and personally sought reviews in key publications.

Morgan Scott peck died on September 25, 2005 at the age of 69.

In my novel Rockets of the Reich I put into the water a behemoth called a Type-XI U-Cruiser which is capable of towing two V-1 rocket pods to the shores of America during the summer of 1944. Maybe some of you may be thinking what kind of pipe is Kinrade smoking?

I realize that World War II is a sacred event that many hacks have used as the background for many a trashy story. And maybe mine might be up in on the ladder leading to those unreadable epics. However, my novel is based on the discovery of a Type-XI off Cape Cod by Trident Research of Framington, Massachusetts.

During the first week of July, 1944 an incident involving a U-Boat and the U.S. Naval airship “K-14″ - basically a blimp with depth charges - occurred off Bar Harbor, Maine. As is made clear in the official inquiry records, the U-Boat in question brought down the “K-14″ with 20mm Anti-Aircraft fire resulting in the loss of six Airship crewmen out of a total compliment of ten men. The inquiry and related intelligence reports also show that the “K-14″ was somewhat successful in at least severely damaging the enemy vessel. Unfortunately, this incident was also kept secret for over 54 years.

Trident Research President Ed Michaud was gracious enough to send me dozens of copies of official Nazi documents which I had to get translated. His take on why the U-Cruiser was never made public was this: “In the summer of 1944, with the destruction of the German armies in France, the Soviets went from being an ally to a potential threat. So even a hint of a Nazi seaborne rocket program would have been sealed hut, as this case was.”

Type XI U-Cruiser ” The Black Knight”
Kriegsmarine “K” Design Office

(bottom image)

According to the official design drafts laid out for the German Type XI-B U-Cruiser in 1939, the specifications for this vessel were as follows:

Length Overall: 115 meters (377 ft.)
Breadth: 9.5 meters (31.3 ft.)
Depth: 6.2 meters (20.3 ft.)
Extreme Displacement: 3,630 tons
Deadweight: 6,800 tons +
Propulsion Machinery:
2-shaft diesel/electric motors,(eight 12cyl. diesel engines in two separate engine rooms), plus two high-grade electric motors in third compartment

Armament:

4 - torpedo tubes in the bow
2 - torpedo tubes in the stern
6 - torpedoes in ready-fire with
6 - spare torpedoes carried below internal storage plates.

Above-DeckArmament:

4 - 127mm Guns in two twin armored turrets.
2 - 37mm AA mounted on deck amidships.
2 - 20mm AA mounted in after Wintergarten.

Ammunition Carried:

940 rounds total of 127mm.
4,000 rounds total of 37mm.
2,000 rounds total of 20mm.
(all carried in 3 separate magazines)

Crew:

110 men, with capability to carry an additional compliment of two company’s’ of “Special Coastal Troops”, (’Brandenburgers’)

Cargo Capacity:

600 cubic tons above provisions.

Accessories:

One-Man “Arado/Argus 231″reconnaissance seaplane

I’ve seen Gordon Lightfoot 4 times, the first in 1971 and the last being two months ago. In my estimation he is the greatest folk artist of all time. As I explained to my wife and kids I grew up singing along to the Beatles and Lightfoot.

You can say that Bob Dylan would wear that crown. But Dylan, like the Beatles, is in a class all his own because he influenced the performers and writers of his time and defined a whole generation in both music and culture. Now, like a lot of greats including Elton John, he has become a parody of himself.

But not Gordon. He crossed over into pop a few times but always remained the voice of his native country, Canada, and exported its stories across the world. His most amazing song could arguably be The Canadian Railroad Trilogy but most would say The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Last May, Lightfoot’s voice was weak - the result of a near-fatal affliction a few years back - but no one in the packed audience cared. When his band arrived onstage I was like a little kid. “There’s Terry Clements . . . and Rick Haynes!” The names on the album credits just rolled off my tongue like someone calling out sports’ figures. These two musicians defined Lightfoot’s sound and I used to spend hours trying to copy Clements’ guitar licks.

When Lightfoot appeared the place went nuts. The frail singer, now in his late 60’s, thanked the crowd and then went to work. Someone yelled out, “We love you, Gordie!” whereupon he responded with, “Thanks. Y’know, it’s nice to hear that now and again.”

My choice to buy a beat-up Gibson 12-string guitar and have it rebuilt was because Lightfoot had one. I even had the color changed to a red sun burst. But Lightfoot’s real talent, alongside his writing, was his command of his Martin 6-string. In a concert in 1977 I was up close enough to finally see how he played the syncopated guitar in Don Quixote and grinned widely as I went home and practiced it for hours.

Knowing he might be type-cast forever as a Canadian folkie he broke with protocol, went down to Nashville and recorded the album Sit Down Young Stranger, featuring a song by an unknown guy who used to clean up the studio named Kris Kristopherson. Before Lightfoot released Me and Bobby McGee, Janis Joplin had it out and the rest is history. So Lightfoot released another single on the album instead, If You Can Read My Mind, and that put him onto the international charts.

All through the ’70’s and into the early ’80’s he read the music industry to a tee and remained a staple in the record stores. He got also the mood of the times  down so well that the song Sit Down Young Stranger could have been me talking with my parents in 1971.

Every now and then when the house is quiet I’ll pick up my 6-string and perform The Ballad of the Yarmouth Castle. After that I’ll have a glass of beer and do Song For A Winter’s Night. If only Clements and Haynes were behind me.

And although he may never come this way again the few times I saw him, including the first, was like welcoming an old friend into my living room.