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Book Review: Closing Time
by Lang Reid
 Closing
Time was billed as the sequel to Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, which was one of
the best books of the past 50 years in my opinion. Consequently I felt from
the outset that this book was going to be hard pressed to equal it. Closing
Time (ISBN 0-7432-3980-6, this edition published by Scribner 2003), also
written by Joseph Heller, was first published in 1994, five years before his
death.
It ‘stars’, if one can use those words, the cast from Catch 22, with the
perennial deliberately neurotic pseudo-hypochondriac Yossarian being one of
the first to be re-introduced. Now 68 years old, Yossarian stays in
hospital, inventing new symptoms for diseases yet to be discovered, ponders
on such subjects as breaking up oil tankers, garbage, radiation, pesticides,
toxic wastes and free enterprise. Heller wrote, “These were not mere
delusions. He was not making them up. Soon they would be cloning human
embryos for sale, fun and replacement parts. Men earned millions producing
nothing more substantial than changes in ownership.” As he did in Catch 22,
author Heller is looking deeply at the substance of society and showing its
glaring faults, that we gloss over for the sake of peace and quiet.
Set so many years after WWII, Milo Minderbender has the M&M corporation,
selling war planes to anyone or any country that wanted one. So nothing had
changed in the intervening half century!
The men from WWII have become older, they have wives, or are divorced or
widowed, they have children and grandchildren, but find that the generation
gap is quite real. A chasm that they cannot jump over. And they are all
aware that their personal closing time is the next event in their lives.
Heller manages to point out the ludicrous nature of the modern world,
producing such gems as, “The more I find out about the practice of law, the
more I’m surprised it isn’t illegal,” and the sign on an emergency exit
stating, “This door must be locked and bolted when in use.” And you thought
that Thailand was the only country with such literal gems!
At B. 450 in my local Bookazine, it represents a very thoughtful and
detailed read. In some sections I felt that it was a little “dated”, but 12
years between publishing and reading today does make a difference in our
breakneck paced world. The Daily Telegraph described this book as learned,
funny, wise; a masterpiece. Despite not being as easily read as Catch 22, it
does go a long way towards showing us where the world headed after WWII, not
all of it directions we would want. Despite this, I did not find Closing
Time as engrossing a book as Catch 22. I looked up other reviews of this
book, as I wondered if I had lost touch with this book during my reading of
it. The Library Journal review was: “This work attempts the same sort of
giddy black humor that made its predecessor a classic, but the underlying
mood is somber, almost elegiac. A profoundly disturbing novel, if not quite
up to the standard of Catch-22.” I concur.
Mott’s CD review: Roy Buchanan
American Axe, Live in 1974
 By Mott The Dog
4 Stars ****
If you had to make up a list of the top 5 most technically brilliant and
influential guitarists in the world of rock music, it would be a very
hard job and one that would be open to a mountain of debate. But if
pushed, in no particular order I would come up with Jimi Hendrix, Eric
Clapton, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, and Roy Buchanan.
If you were just going for influence then a few more names would have to
come into the frame: Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, Jimmy
Page, even the likes of Toni Iommi and all would come in. For just plain
technique some of the new guys would have a say: Satriani, Vai or Stevie
Ray Vaughn would have a shout, and more than a handful of votes. But to
combine the two I would have to stick to my original five. Now three of
those might be up to negotiation, but not Jimi or Roy.
We all know Jimi Hendrix; the man was a genius, no question there,
changed the way people played the six string, and what a showman too,
setting fire to his guitar, playing with his teeth, etc. He wrote songs
that will remain classics until we blow up this little planet of ours.
Jimi Hendrix was the male sex symbol of his time to boot, liked by all
who met him. The man had everything except for enough real friends to
keep him alive. If a star ever burnt brighter as it raced across the sky
before crashing to earth, the earth would not have stood it.
If Roy Buchanan stood at those crossroads with the devil to make a deal,
he did not make as good a deal as Jimi did. Oh sure he could play
guitar; by the time he was twelve there was nobody that could touch him.
But he certainly never got the looks, stage charisma, writing ability,
or the ability to get along with people. If you were a friend of Roy
Buchanan you had a loyal friend but if you crossed the man, real or
imagined, you were written out of the book.
Throughout his career he had a reputation as being difficult to get
along with. How much of this was deserved is up to conjecture, but
certainly his relationship with Jack Daniels does not seemed to have
helped matters. Roy Buchanan was found dead in a police cell in his
hometown of Reston Virginia. He had been arrested for being drunk and
disorderly, and later found dead. The circumstances were considered very
suspicious, but like a lot of things will remain a mystery.
But at the end of the day it is the music that counts, and when Roy
Buchanan picked up a guitar he could make it dance, sing, or anything.
‘American Axe’ is a fine example of Roy Buchanan live on stage. Backed
by friends who were also all superb musicians (he could not have been
all bad), these recordings are all gems and give you a fair idea of what
the man must have been like in concert. The show opens up with the MC
introducing Roy Buchanan as the best guitarist to have stepped the
boards, and Roy gets up there to prove the guy right.
The band stretches out on opening song ‘Too Many Drivers’ in similar
style to the way the Rolling Stones would open with ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’
just loosening up the band. The rhythm section slips into its groove,
and Malcolm Lukens even gets to put in a short solo just to get his
fingers going before the governor comes in with the first of many guitar
breaks that lift the roof off the place. A good place to start,
preparing you for what is to come.
Next up is Roy Buchanan’s own ‘Roy’s Bluz’ - a walkin’, talkin’ blues,
allowing Roy to rap about how he feels before hitting out at the
audience with some sparkling stun guitar. At nearly nine minutes, long
Roy Buchanan has plenty of time to tell you what he thinks and to stun
the audience with his guitar. When he calls out “When I get to hell”
with such certainty, the guitar licks that follow it send shivers up and
down your arms.
‘Get Out Of My Life, Woman’ is the band giving the blues groove a
seventies feel. It is the only song on the album that is to be more
dominated by the keyboards than the guitar. The problem with this band
was that they did not have a really talented vocalist amongst them all.
As well as the keyboards, Malcolm Lukens gets his turn to sing on this
number, and while it is not a bad job, you really paid your money to
hear Roy Buchanan play guitar.
‘C.C. Rider’ is then trundled out for a ten minute workout, where we the
paying audience start to get what we paid for: Roy Buchanan playing
guitar, and although the inclusion of so many covers does show the
weakness in Roy Buchanan’s song writing abilities, the old chestnut is
turned on its head and the guitarist devours it, taking it from a slow
blues to a rip roarin’ climax.
To bring the emotion level down, but the tempo up, we are then treated
to quick romp through Dave Bartholomew’s ‘I Hear You Knockin’. Then it
is back to serious business with ‘The Messiah Will Come Again’, which is
begun by a sombre Roy Buchanan with a spoken introduction, before
playing some of the most dramatic guitar on the album, making every note
count and showing it is not what you play but how you play it. It’s a
fine centrepiece to the album.
On ‘Done Your Daddy Dirty’, Roy Buchanan turns the tables by reverting
to the old adage: if you have it flaunt it, just ripping up the rule
book and shredding his guitar strings for seven solid minutes, by which
time the band has given up any hope of keeping up with him, and you feel
they would rather just sit back and applaud. This is what Deep Purple
and Led Zeppelin wanted to sound like.
How could Roy Buchanan possibly mess this up by next playing ‘Hey Joe’?
Well he does. The guitar playing as you would expect is straight out of
the top drawer and a fine example to any budding young guitarist. But
the vocals are appalling, weak at best, with Roy Buchanan sounding as if
he was standing six feet from the microphone. When Jimi Hendrix did
Billy Roberts song he sounds as though he means every word of the
lyrics, and you knew that Jimi was going to shoot his old lady down.
Here it sounds as if the lyrics are being read from a book. The guitar
playing is outstanding though, with a nice touch at the end when the
band breaks into a refrain of ‘Foxy Lady’ to bring the song to a rockin’
end with a nice nod to his fallen comrade.
Perhaps wisely, bass player John Harrison then gets his turn at the
vocals, as the band thunders through ‘Johnny B. Goode’. No complaints
here for this, and it’s interesting to notice the different way that
Buchanan and Hendrix handled covering these two songs. Both did it
differently, but also brilliantly, and it’s hard to say who comes out on
top in the guitar playing stakes. By now the band members are really
enjoying themselves and have a party playing ‘Further On Up The Road’
with Byrd Foster huffing and puffing behind his drum kit as he handles
the vocal duties.
To close the show Roy Buchanan dismantles and then puts back together
Don Gibson’s ‘Sweet Dreams’. When people say they heard a guitar sing,
this is the sort of thing they are talking about. A stunning way to
bring the show to its conclusion. Later, Mick Ronson would play his own
version of this as the centrepiece to his solo spot whilst touring with
Ian Hunter.
If anyone disagrees with my assessment of the world’s most influential
and technical top 5 guitarists, have a listen to ‘American Axe’ and it
may well change your mind.
Roy Buchanan
Roy Buchanan: Guitar and Vocals
Malcolm Lukens: Keyboards and Vocals
John Harrison: Bass and Vocals
Byrd Foster: Drums and Vocals
Songs
Too Many Drivers
Roy’s Bluz
Get Out Of My Life, Woman
C.C. Rider
I Hear You Knockin’
The Messiah Will Come Again
Done Your Daddy Dirty
Hey Joe
Johnny B. Goode
Further On Up The Road
Sweet Dreams
To contact Mott the
Dog email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.mott-the-dog.com
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