[Dixielandjazz] Art Jacob's New Year's eve story

[Henry C. Mason]

Hi Listmates,

Every year I put this story up on my website about a "modern" New Years
Eve.   This was done by my friend Art Jacob now 87 who played bass in my
band for many years in Atlanta.   One year, right after New Year's Eve I
got a letter from him containing this "review" .  When I stopped laughing I
typed it up for our website and every year I repost it in Art's honor.   I
just read it over and thought you guys might enjoy it.

*
By Art Jacob


I guess its the old fire horse in me but there's no way I can hit the sack
before midnight on New Year's Eve and I always get such a hoot out of
listening to some rock band just prior to the drop of the peach.

This year some ditzy blonde was skipping back and forth in front of a
couple of guitars and drums...apparently this was her sole talent. They
dropped the peach, which actually looked more like a Squash with a thyroid
problem , and that instant the guitars set off on "Auld Lang Syne" in more
or less one key and the blonde kept cavorting back and forth while
screaming the lyrics in ANOTHER key. This went on for an interminable time
until they got to what should have been the bridge, but no one would
venture into this uncharted area so they all just tapered off to nothing
one by one.

It takes a pile of nerve to tackle an old folk song and screw it up that
badly. New Year's eve used to be the climax to a musical year, now it's
just a hollow mockery. In more than 50 years, big and small I've never
heard such a mess in my life . Truly this was a golden moment in musical
history.

Art Jacob is a retired Atlanta bassist who has played many New Year's Eve
gigs. He has settled comfortably into his new role of music critic.
*