Throw the First Stone (A Psychedelic Soul Suite)

SUNDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO

SUNDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO “Throw the First Stone (A Psychedelic Soul Suite)”

 —A ramble in 3 parts:

Part I: A string quartet from Stockholm (courtesy of my friend Bil Bryant) plays over a frenzied live band encore in Japan, performed by bassist Jerry Renino, guitarist Wayne Avers, and drummer Sandy Gennaro (all former sidemen for The Monk

ees). Call this an act of xenochrony, a recording studio technique where parts are lifted from their original context and placed into a different work. Composer Charles Ives invented this approach after he noticed parade bands blending with one another by “chance,” so he harnessed it by design.

Part II: A Talking Heads-influenced update on a song I’d written after observing journalists, TV evangelists, politicians, and others engaged in petulant name-calling (“and the names go ‘round like a blimp that blew up in your phone”). The street level phrase “throw the first stone” originally comes from the incident recorded in St. John’s Gospel. A mob of religious men are preparing to stone an adulterous woman to death, and they confronted Jesus about it, like he should commend such a harsh punishment. Instead, Jesus calmly said, “He that is without sin among you, throw the first stone at her.” One by one the men drifted away because of the truth: All have sinned and need to self-judge before judging others.

Part III: More xenochrony, referencing J.S. Bach, “Greensleeves,” the fade of “All You Need is Love” (The Beatles), etc. while segueing to dreamy riff on resonator guitar and keyboards.

The term xenochrony comes from a Greek word meaning “strange and alien time.” Time can be chronology, or a collection of images and memories stacked together at will. Stravinsky said, “Music is but another way to measure time.” Current events may seem strange and alien, but we have an opportunity to make the best of the time. Now.

#johnnyjblair #gospelofjohn #xenochrony #bilbryant #japan #jerryrenino #wayneavers #sandygennaro #monkees #davyjones #charlesives #talkingheads #tvegangelist #bach #greensleeves #beatles #resonatorguitar #stravinsky #singersongwriter #singeratlarge