Playing any instrument well is a gift, David. And the accordion can sound great - just listen to Flaco Jiminez playing with Ry Cooder.
Tommy On Sat, Jan 3, 2015 at 5:45 AM, David Kusumoto <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks, Toochis! As I wrote to another MoPo member who wrote to me > privately this afternoon, it's been a long time since I wrote a long-ass > essay about anything for MoPo, especially one so blatantly "off topic," > hence there's always tension about how it's going to go over. But what was > true then still feels true today. People who play guitar like Greg > Dougass, or who play piano or who can sing - always get the girls (or the > guys). There's something weird in our biology that makes us responsive to > random tones like a second language, coming from almost any instrument but > the accordion (unless you're in a Parisian restaurant, I guess). I think I > could've been good at the guitar or the piano (the latter mildly similar to > the accordion) - if I had kept at it, but it's a life-long craft. > > Obviously the point is my Dad tried to get me to embrace an instrument I > hated. I miss his toughness and how he cared about me despite a tragic > inability to verbalize his affection. While he ridiculed my ways, I felt > the tide turning when I started liking movies from HIS childhood. When I > began collecting movie posters from the 40s and 50s, he loved it and we > used to talk about WHY he went against the grain as a kid, tagging Barbara > Stanwyck as his all-time fav - while his buddies liked Lana Turner or some > other babe. My Dad lived with us for 13 months before I had to put him > into a home. He'd stop and stare at the remaining one-sheets in my home > and use them as reference points to where he was. And then, when I put on > movie soundtrack music or Nat King Cole on the stereo, he'd be completely > NORMAL. Just bizarre. -d. > > ------------------------------ > Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2015 18:01:48 -0800 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: And what about 2015? (Warning: Not PC.) > To: [email protected] > > Great story David! Play a song in honor of your dad? My hubby and I went > to the guitar store yesterday. He will be studying lead and I bass, like my > grandpa. Playing that bass brought a huge smile to his face. I know he's > playing in heaven. > > Toochis > > Sent from my iPhone > > ------------------------------ > Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2015 17:24:28 -0800 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: And what about 2015? (Warning: Not PC.) > To: [email protected]; Greg Douglass <[email protected]> > > Sorry for the revised send of this thread. The academic server rejected > my posts during the holiday because of profanity. This is the PG-13 > version. - d. > --------------------------- > Thanks, Greg. Can't remember the last time I wrote more than my usual 200 > paragraphs about anything. Like a lot of things abandoned, if I picked up > the accordion today - I wouldn't know how play it! But I still have that > blasted trophy as proof of a mastery over an albatross my Dad was sure > would transform me into the Van Cliburn of accordions. It just ain't an > instrument that can be integrated seamlessly with rock. Oh sure, fans will > sometimes yell, "More cowbell!" - but you'll never hear 'em yell, "More > accordion!" - d. > > ------------------------------ > Subject: Re: And what about 2015? (Warning: Not PC.) > From: Greg Douglass <[email protected]> > Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2015 16:35:34 -0800 > CC: [email protected]; [email protected] > To: [email protected] > > David, for you to have the balls to carry an accordion in public at that > age gives me even more respect for you as a human being than I already had. > But to actually EXCEL at this wretched instrument? That ain’t easy. I’m > actually kind offload the guitar thing didn’t work out; sounds like you > would have been frighteningly good, and hence…competition. Any civility > between us would, of course, be impossible. > > Great story, DK, beautifully written, as always. > Greg Douglass > > ------------------------------ > Subject: Re: And what about 2015? (Warning: Not PC.) > From: [email protected] > Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2015 15:49:28 -0800 > To: Greg Douglass <[email protected]>; MoPo-L List < > [email protected]>; Simon Oram <[email protected]> > > * True story about my tortured feelings toward the "accordion" - > featured in this pic I posted the other day. > > [image: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img673/816/5YQntq.jpg] > > * Picture a Nipponese-kid, a.k.a. I don't mean to offend, but history > shouldn't be whitewashed, as I was a true "Nip" born in Japan, son of a > tough talking U.S. Navy man who forced a 7-year old kid (me) to take > accordion lessons - who, like all kids in the 1960s, preferred the guitar > because in my view, the '60s was the best decade for music - and the > Beatles were (and still are) my favorite band. Folks, we're talking about > a boxy instrument weighing almost 20 pounds, with piano keys on right side > and 120 buttons on the left, strapped onto a kid (me) who was no more than > 4-6 tall - whose head barely creeped over the top edge. The accordion I > carried looked similar to this: > > [image: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img538/6007/FBOqwt.jpg] > > * When Dad's drunken buddies came over our house, my Dad would say, "hey > you sonsofb*tches, my kid plays a mean accordion." "Everyone laughed," as > they used to say in the ad copy back then - "until I began to play." My > Dad would yell out, "hey David, get your puny ass out here and play "Beer > Barrel Polka" for the guys." I said no way and he said, "do it or I'll hit > you so hard that you won't be able to stand up." > > * Now picture this - a living room filled with a bunch of servicemen, > watching a little nipper kid glumly playing "Beer Barrel Polka," "Lady of > Spain" and other tiresome accordion "standards." It was like scene out of > a bad movie, you know, a little Asian kid playing a big accordion - in > front of a bunch of soused G.I.s. Pretty much as incongruous as an Asian > doing Gene Autry or Elvis Presley. Everyone howled and applauded. The > only thing missing was cheap strippers with mustaches. > > * After a few of these episodes, my accordion instructor - (yeah, Dad paid > for him too) - told me I was good enough to compete. So in 1968, when I > was 11, one month after RFK was murdered, I trekked up to the same > Ambassador Hotel in L.A. and entered the Western U.S. According Festival. I > was the first kid out of around 30 in my age group to play. I played > "Waltz of the Sirens." Again, you have to picture a pip-squeak Nipper kid > struggling with a gigantic accordion, playing a tune that who knows, > could've been performed for the Nazis before they went into battle. I left > the performance room and hung around the hotel for about 2 hours. We then > went into a huge ballroom and visited the results table. The festival > staff looked up my name and one of them told the guy who drove me to L.A., > "hey, that Oriental kid you brought won first prize." I got a trophy. The > trophy was only about a foot tall and probably cost no more than $5, but > sh*t, a trophy is still a trophy and a big deal for an 11-year old. For a > fleeting moment, I was OK being an accordion player. > > * When I got home, I put the trophy on the kitchen counter and told my Dad > - "I'm done. I'm the best in the Western U.S. at this and I want to play > the guitar." My Dad said, "fine, but I'm not buying you a goddam guitar." > I retorted, "but the accordion was your f**king idea! I never wanted it in > the first place. It's an instrument for Italians, the French and Nazis!" > My Dad smirked and said, "watch your mouth you little son of a b*tch. OK, > no accordion, you did get a prize, but I'm not paying a f**king dime for > you to learn that rock and roll sh*t." > > * I then went out and got a right-handed acoustic guitar from a thrift > store - but because I'm left handed, I struggled. After being unable to > master the "easy" first notes of "Down on the Corner" by Creedence, I gave > up and poured all of my energies into school, resigned to being a nerd - > while confirming the stereotype that Asians are good at academics but lousy > drivers. My Dad was tough and said, "you better not f**k up school or > you're outta here. I'm not supporting no dead beat. But I'll pay you $5 > for every "A" you get on your goddam report card." And he did. Despite > his rough talk, he was proud of his little Nip. (Ironically, he was a > full-blooded Nip too, but born in Whitefish, Montana, near Glacier Park. > He just never seemed Asian to me because he had no accent, spoke perfect > sailor English and told great jokes.) > > * Fast forward 40 years later. I miss my old man - the way he was before > Alzheimer's erased him. He's still among the living, but he's basically > gone. He took the belt after me a few times when I cussed like a sailor > right back at him, but he left no scars. How he treated me might be > considered by some today as child abuse. Not to me. -d. > > -----Original Message----- > > Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:37:06 -0800 > From: Greg Douglass <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: And what about 2015? > To: [email protected] > > David, just seeing an accordion has made me lose hope of seeing in 2015 > with anything approaching positivity. > Very disturbing. > And a vun, a two, and a three, > Happy New Year, my paper-addicted brethren! > Greg Douglass > > -- > Greg Douglass > Guitarist- > Lessons, Live Shows, Touring, > & Studio Work > (760) 212-3648 > > -----Original Message----- > > Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:07:38 +0000 > Subject: Re: [MOPO] And what about 2015? > From: Simon Oram <[email protected]> > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > > Are u suggesting David, that we are over prescribed? You may have a point > but then ignorance is bliss.. > > Happy New Year > > Simon > > Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone. > > ------------------------------ > Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 12:54:45 -0800 > From: [email protected] > Subject: And what about 2015? > To: [email protected] > > [image: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img673/816/5YQntq.jpg] > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
