Early life.

Kline was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Margaret Agnes Kirk and Robert Joseph Kline (1909–1996). His father was a classical music lover and an amateur opera singer who owned and operated The Record Bar, a record store in St. Louis that opened in the early 1940s, and sold toys during the 1960s and 1970s; his father's family also owned Kline's Inc., a department store chain. Kline has described his mother as the "dramatic theatrical character in our family". Kline's father was Jewish, from a family that had emigrated from Germany, and had become an agnostic. Kline's mother was a Catholic of Irish descent, the daughter of an emigrant from County Louth. Kline was raised in his mother's Catholic faith. He has an older sister, Kate, and two younger brothers, Alexander and Christopher.  He graduated from the Saint Louis Priory School in 1965. In 1997, the school named its new auditorium as the Kevin Kline Theater in his honor. Kline performed selections from Shakespeare as a benefit at the dedication.  He attended Indiana University, Bloomington, where he was a classmate of actor Jonathan Banks. He began studying composing and conducting music, but switched to a theater and speech major for his last two years, graduating in 1970. Kline remembers: "When I switched to the Theater Department, all I did was theater...I could barely make it to class because this was my passion." While an undergraduate, he was a co-founder of the Vest Pocket Players, an off-campus theatrical troupe.

Career.

In 1970, Kline was awarded a scholarship to the newly formed Drama Division at the Juilliard School in New York. In 1972, he joined with fellow Juilliard graduates, including Patti LuPone and David Ogden Stiers, and formed the City Center Acting Company (now The Acting Company), under the aegis of John Houseman.  The Company traveled across the U.S. performing Shakespeare's plays, other classical works, and the musical "The Robber Bridegroom", founding one of the most widely praised groups in American repertory theatre. At Juilliard, he studied singing with Beverley Peck Johnson.  In 1976, Kline left The Acting Company and settled in New York City, doing a brief appearance as the character "Woody Reed" in the now-defunct soap opera "Search for Tomorrow". He followed this with a return to the stage in 1977 to play Clym Yeobright opposite Donna Theodore as Eustacia Vye in The Hudson Guild Theater production of "Dance on a Country Grave", Kelly Hamilton's musical version of Thomas Hardy's "The Return of the Native". In 1978, he played the role of Bruce Granit, a matinée idol caricature, in Harold Prince's "On the Twentieth Century", for which he won his first Tony Award. In 1981, Kline appeared with rock diva Linda Ronstadt and singer Rex Smith in the New York Shakespeare Festival's Central Park production of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance", winning another Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, for his comically dashing portrayal of the Pirate King. In 1983, he played the role in a film version of the musical, also with Ronstadt, Smith and Angela Lansbury, which had a limited theatrical release.  In the ensuing years, Kline appeared many times in New York Shakespeare Festival productions of Shakespeare plays, including starring roles in "Richard III" (1983), "Much Ado About Nothing" (1988), "Henry V" (1984), and two productions of "Hamlet", in 1986 and 1990 (which he also directed). A videotape of the 1990 production has aired on PBS.  He also appeared in a Lincoln Center production that combined the two parts of "Henry IV" on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in 2003 as Falstaff. Kline was nominated for the 2004 Tony Award, Actor in a Play.  Dubbed "the American Olivier" by "New York Times" theater critic Frank Rich for his stage acting, Kline finally ventured into film in 1982 in "Sophie's Choice". He won the coveted role of the tormented and mercurial Nathan opposite Meryl Streep. Streep won an Academy Award for her performance in the film. Kline was nominated for a 1983 Golden Globe award (New Star of the Year) and BAFTA Award for Most Outstanding Newcomer To Film.  During the 1980s and early 1990s, Kline made several films with director Lawrence Kasdan, including "The Big Chill", "Silverado", "Grand Canyon", "I Love You to Death", and "French Kiss". He played Donald Woods in Richard Attenborough's "Cry Freedom" opposite Denzel Washington about the friendship between Activist Stephen Biko and editor Donald Woods.  In 1989, Kline won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the British comedy "A Fish Called Wanda", in which he played a painfully inept American ex-CIA thug opposite John Cleese's genteel British barrister and Jamie Lee Curtis' femme fatale/con woman. In 2000, the American Film Institute ranked the film twenty-first on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs. He provided his first voice acting role in "The Nutcracker" in 1993, and also provided the role of Captain Phoebus in the 1996 Disney film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".  Other awards have included Drama Desk Awards, Golden Globe awards, a Gotham Award, a Hasty Pudding Theatricals Man of the Year Award, and a St. Louis International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted in the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2003. He has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Film reviewers have praised Kline. "Newsday" critic Lynn Darling wrote on July 13, 1988, that Kline "has proved himself to be one of the most talented and versatile American actors of his generation."  Kline played the title role in "King Lear" at the Public Theater and took the lead role in a Broadway production of "Cyrano de Bergerac" opposite Jennifer Garner. That production was forced to close temporarily after only 11 performances as a result of the Broadway stagehands' strike, but subsequently reopened. "Cyrano" was filmed in 2008 and aired as part of PBS's "Great Performances" series in January 2009.  In January 2008, Kline won a Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of Jaques in Kenneth Branagh's film "As You Like It", adapted from Shakespeare's play. The film premiered theatrically in 2006 in Europe. It bypassed theatres and was sent straight to HBO in the U.S. Kline's film "The Conspirator" premiered during the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010 and was described as an "old-fashioned historical thriller". It was well received by most critics. Kline also starred in the 2012 comedy "Darling Companion" alongside Diane Keaton. In 2017, Kline returned to Broadway in a revival of the play "Present Laughter", for which he received his third Tony Award.  In December 2004, Kline became the 2,272nd recipient of a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his contributions to the motion picture industry, located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life.

Kline met actress Phoebe Cates in 1983. They began dating in 1985 and married in 1989. The couple live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York. They have two children, Owen Kline (born 1991) and Greta Kline (born 1994), who fronts the band Frankie Cosmos.  After his son, Owen, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, Kline became active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In November 2004, he was presented with the JDRF's Humanitarian of the Year award by Meryl Streep for his volunteer efforts on behalf of the organization.  The Kevin Kline Awards honor theatre professionals in St. Louis in an array of categories, which include best actor and actress, set design, choreography, and new play or musical.

Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an American actor. He has won an Oscar and three Tony Awards and is a 2003 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee.


Biography.

Oleg Orlov was born on April 4, 1953 to the Orlov family. His father, Pyotr Mikhailovich, was a graduate of MEPHI (Moscow Engineer Physical Institute) and an engineer; his mother, Svetlana Nikolaevna, was a graduate of MGU (Moscow State University) philological faculty and a school teacher. The 20th convention of the Communist Party Congress, which in 1956 condemned a cult of Stalin worshipers and revealed information on the crimes of Stalin's regime, had a strong impact on Oleg's father. From that time on, according to Oleg Orlov, his father became a determined opponent of communism. In the kitchen of their Moscow apartment many people would often gather to hold political conversations, argue, and listen to songs of bards.  Having not succeeded in getting into MGU on his first try, Oleg Orlov became a student of the agricultural Timiryazevsky Academy. After successfully completing three courses in the academy he transferred to the biology faculty at MGU. Upon finishing his studies he worked for the Institute of Plant Physiology at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.  During the course of his work at the institute—after the start of the war in Afghanistan in 1979—Orlov made himself a primitive copy machine (hectograph), and for two years posted political leaflets dedicated to the war, the situation in Poland, and the activity of the movement “Solidarity.”  In 1988 Orlov became a member of the initiative group “Memorial:” a group dedicated to supporting the rehabilitation of victims of political repression in the USSR, publicizing the facts of mass human rights infringements in the USSR, establishing monuments to the victims of political repression, creating a museum and library devoted to the theme of political repression, and freeing of political prisoners.  Subsequently, the All-Union, voluntary, historic-educational society “Memorial” was formed on the basis of the original initiative group. Orlov became the coordinator of the elective committee for “Memorial”. From 1988-1989 he actively participated in the preparatory and founding congresses of “Memorial”. The movement was registered in 1991 and later was renamed to the International Historic-Educational Human Rights and Charity Organization “Memorial”. Orlov became one of the trustees of the organization.  In 1990 Orlov participated in the electoral block “Elections-90” [Vybory-90], was the authorized representative of human rights defender Sergey Kovalev on elections in the Supreme Council of RSFSR, and after his election worked in the administration of the Supreme Council where he held the position of key specialist on a committee for human rights. Orlov worked on laws dealing with the humanization of the penitentiary system in Russia and the rehabilitation of victims of political repression. While occupying this position, Orlov simultaneously became chairman of the Board for the Human Rights Center “Memorial.”  During the coup in Moscow in 1991 Orlov was a defender of “the Russian White House.”  From 1991 to 1994 he was an observer of conflict zones in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Moldova, and the Ingushetia-Ossetia conflict in the Northern Caucasus. He also co-authored many reports for “Memorial.” Beginning in 1994 Orlov, together with Kovalev, who held the post of chairman of the Committee of Human Rights under the President of Russia, worked in the military conflict zone of the Chechen Republic. He personally met Chechen leaders Dzhokhar Dudaev and Aslan Maskhadov, participated in negotiations to exchange prisoners, and inspected hospitals and camps for prisoners of war.  In June 1995 Oleg Orlov, as part of a group headed by S.A. Kovalev, participated in negotiations with terrorists, who under the direction of Shamil Basaev captured hostages in the city of Budyonovsk. After successful negotiations, members of S.A. Kovalev's group (including Orlov) became voluntary hostages in order to guarantee the agreed-upon exchange of the majority of hostages.  Subsequently, Orlov and Human Rights Center “Memorial” gave much attention to the problem of kidnapping in the Caucasus and victims living among the peaceful populations of the Chechen Republic, Ingushetia and Dagestan. Orlov also refused an offer from Kovalev to work in the presidential human rights structure.  In 2004 Orlov became a member of the President of the Russian Federation's council for the development of civil society and human rights institutions under the leadership of Ella Pamifilova. In 2006 he left the council as a sign of protest against a comment made by Russian president Vladimir Putin concerning the murder of journalist Anna Politkovska, in which he announced that the murder brought Russia a bigger loss than its publication.  Since the beginning of the second Chechen war in October 1999 Orlov has headed the work of “Memorial” in the Northern Caucasus, where representatives of “Memorial” work in Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Northern Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkariya, and Stavropolsky territory.  Since April 2004 Orlov has also been a member of the Advisory Council under the Human Rights Commissioner in the Russian Federation.

Attack in Nazran.

On the night of November 24, 2007, the day before a protest in Nazran, Oleg Orlov and a group of TV reporters from REN TV were taken hostages in a Nazran hotel by an armed group of people in masks. While threatening the hostages with their weapons, the kidnappers forced them to wear black bags and drove the hostages outside the city to a field, where they dragged them from the car and began beating them. One of the journalists who suffered through the ordeal later told:  “They beat us silently. After that, one of them said they were going to shoot us now. But then with a snicker he added, ‘It’s a pity we didn’t bring silencers’ and then they left.”  The attackers stole video equipment, documents, cell phones, and personal items from Orlov and the journalists. An hour before the attack the patrol squad that was keeping watch in the Assa Hotel left their post under orders from their superiors. The car with the hostages was not stopped once along the way. Oleg Orlov and the other victims are convinced they were attacked by officers of special services and that the attack itself was “an act of intimidation.”  According to the facts of the attack a court case was drawn up under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (UKRF): “hindrance of lawful professional work of journalists” (item 144, part 1 UKRF), “illegal penetration into a dwelling with application of violence” (item 139, part 2 UKRF), and “theft – open plunder of another’s property” (item 161, part 1 UKRF). A group of well-known Russian human rights activists appealed to the Human Rights Commissioner in Russia, Vladimir Lukin, and to Ella Pamfilova, the Chairman of the President of the Russian Federation's council for the development of civil society and human rights institutions. In their appeal they pointed out the inaccuracy in the particulars of the court case:  “The investigators ‘did not make note’ that ‘kidnapping’ (item 126), ‘threat by murder’ (item 119), ‘assault’ (item 116), and ‘deliberate harm to health’ (item 112) took place. A one-and-a-half hour run wearing only socks in freezing cold weather is already a sufficient basis to begin speaking of inhuman treatment to victims. Finally, ‘plunder of property with application of violence’ is not qualified as ‘theft’, but as ‘robbery’ (item 162 UKRF).”

Kadyrov’s Lawsuit.

In 2009 Orlov placed blame for the murder of “Memorial” employee Natalia Estemirova, which took place in July 2009, on the head of the President of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. In response to this, Kadyrov filed suit against Orlov and HRC “Memorial” in order to protect his honor, dignity, business reputation, and to receive compensation for moral injury. On October 6, 2009 the judge partly satisfied Kadyrov's claim, collecting 20 thousand Rubles from Orlov and 50 thousand Rubles from “Memorial.” The judge viewed the statements from Orlov about the personal or indirect fault of Kadyrov in the death of Estemirova as discrediting the honor and dignity of the President. Orlov specified that he did not mean that Kadyrov himself had directly participated in the crime, but that he was responsible for what was happening in the republic. Orlov pointed out that the head of the Chechen Republic had created such conditions as to make it impossible for human rights activists to work in the republic; and what's more—they (human rights activists) are declared as “permitted targets.” The Commissioner of Human Rights in the Chechen Republic—Nurdi Nukhazhiev—announced that Orlov “got off easy.” According to Nukhazhiev, “He (Orlov), in his biased statements, has publicly disgraced the honor, dignity, and business reputation... of Kadyrov. And in such situations the judge should be more severe.” On June 6, 2010, for that same public statement, Orlov was accused of a criminal offense for “slander” (item 129, part 3 UKRF). Orlov's court process began on September 13, 2010. Genry Markovich Reznik became his lawyer. The state accuser asked that Orlov be found guilty and fined 150 thousand rubles. The representative of Kadyrov demanded a punishment of 3 years imprisonment. On June 14, 2011 magistrate of the court district No.363 of the Khamoviki region of Moscow declared Orlov “not guilty.” Kadyrov's representative, as well as the state prosecutor, has appealed against this verdict. The consideration of appeals still continues today.

Oleg Petrovich Orlov (born April 4, 1953 in Moscow) is a biologist, participator in post-soviet human rights movements in Russia, chairman of the Board of Human Rights Center “Memorial,” executive board member of the Center's International, Historic-Educational Society. From 2004-2006 was in the President of the Russian Federation's council for the development of civil society and human rights institutions. Laureate of the “For Freedom of Thought” award, given in honor of Andrei Sakharov (2009). Member of the federal political council movement “Solidarity.”


Reception.

In his review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek notes that ""Black Shabbis" is not for everybody, not even some Saft fans necessarily, but it is a powerful, excellent work that uses the metal genre well – expertly even – and will convince headbangers of its essential importance as one of the voices out there that stands tall and defiant in the face of much of the anti-Semitism that is promoted by some black and death metal bands. For everyone else, it is an angry howl of both pain and resistance whose anger is carried beautifully as the artist's ultimate weapon: his imagination and creativity to provoke, to give pause and reflection". Metal Reviews stated ""Black Shabbis" takes in a range of styles, and taking into account the previous works of its creator it's difficult to know whether "Black Shabbis" is a serious attempt at making a metal record, or more a pastiche of the genre as a whole... "Black Shabbis" has some good ideas, but it's an awkward, bitty album. Saft clearly has talent, but he's effectively crippled by a weird, overly dry production and a steadfast refusal to stick to any one idea. Still, there's hope here, and if Jamie Saft ever raises his game and makes a "Black Shabbis II" he might be on to a good thing. As it is, "Black Shabbis" is an interesting idea with a rather messy execution". Keith Kahn-Harris wrote that ""Black Shabbis" is not the product of a metal band rooted in the metal scene, but of a one-off project that sets out to explore a particular aesthetic... Saft is clearly a genius at wielding and manipulating the musical tools available in the metal armoury. Contrary to the stereotype of metal as a stock of banal clichés played by morons, metal has diversified enormously in the last three decades, creating a sophisticated and complex panopoly of sounds and possibilities. Saft shows no loyalty to any one style and the tracks skip radically between influences and sub-genres... "Black Shabbis" will provide unerving delights for anyone like me who is as obsessed with the possibilities of distorted guitar as they are with Jewish identity".

Track listing.

All compositions by Jamie Saft

Black Shabbis is an album by multi-instrumentalist Jamie Saft which was released on the Tzadik label in 2009. The extreme metal album examines a number of antisemitic concepts and incidents throughout history.


History.

Valley Mills was named for a flour mill established on the banks of the Bosque River in 1867 by Dr. E.P. Booth and Asbury Stegall.  In 1881, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway laid tracks a mile south of the community, across the Bosque River. Merchants, hoping to benefit from the railroad, began moving their stores across the river, to the tracks.  On February 17, 1882, a cyclone (tornado) hit the new townsite, destroying a large number of buildings. Nevertheless, the remaining residents from the community's original site moved across the river and rebuilt their homes. Thus, by the end of 1882 Valley Mills had extended into McLennan County.  Dairy farming and stock raising were the principal industries of the community. By 1900, however, the railroad and the nearby Chisholm Trail had made Valley Mills a prosperous retail and trading center for Bosque and McLennan counties. The community's population reached 855 by 1905. Like many rural Texas communities, Valley Mills declined during the 1930s. Following World War II, however, as farm prices increased and ranching prospered, the economy grew, and the population, which had declined to 803 by 1937, increased to 1,037 by the mid-1950s. During the next three decades Valley Mills maintained its position as a leading retail market and shipping point for Bosque and McLennan counties.  The town was hit by an F-5 tornado on May 6, 1973, nearly 20 years after the infamous 1953 Waco Tornado, and despite its F-5 rating, there were no deaths in the Valley Mills tornado.  In 1984, it had a newspaper, a municipal airport, more than 25 businesses, several dairy farms and ranches, and a population of 1,236. A new school was opened in 1988; it and four churches were the social centers of the community. In 1990, the population was 1,085. In 2010, the population was 1,203.

Demographics.

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,123 people, 430 households, and 301 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,601.2 people per square mile (619.4/km2). There were 487 housing units at an average density of 694.4 per square mile (268.6/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.73% White, 4.99% African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 5.97% from other races, and 1.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.73% of the population.  There were 430 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.03.  In the city, the population was spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.3 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $32,115, and the median income for a family was $39,659. Males had a median income of $35,000 versus $18,125 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,062. About 6.7% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education.

Valley Mills is served by the Valley Mills Independent School District and home to Valley Mills High School.

Geography.

Climate.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Valley Mills has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Valley Mills is a city in Bosque and McLennan counties in central Texas, United States. The population was 1,203 at the 2010 census.


Africa, Europe, and Asia.

In countries where ground suitable for burial was scarce, corpses would be interred for approximately five years following death, thereby allowing decomposition to occur. After this, the remains would be exhumed and moved to an ossuary or charnel house, thereby allowing the original burial place to be reused. In modern times, the use of charnel houses is a characteristic of cultures living in rocky or arid places, such as the Cyclades archipelago and other Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

Monastery of the Transfiguration (Saint Catherine's), Mt. Sinai.

Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai is famous for having a working charnel house. Saint Catherine's was founded by Justinian in the early 6th century, on the site of an older monastery founded about 313 AD and named for Helena of Constantinople. The monastery comprises the whole Autonomous Church of Sinai, under the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The site lies at the foot of Mount Sinai where Christians believe Moses received the Ten Commandments.  Since the Sinai is an inhospitable place, the brethren of St. Catherine's have struggled to eke out a subsistence-level existence. The difficulty in establishing a large cemetery in the rocky ground notwithstanding, relics are also gathered for temporal and spiritual reasons: a reminder to the monks of their impending death and fate in the hereafter. The Archbishop of Saint Catherine's is commonly the Abbot as well. After death, he is afforded the dignity of a special niche within the "Skull-House".

North America.

A charnel house is also a structure commonly seen in some Native American societies of the Eastern United States. Major examples are the Hopewell cultures and Mississippian cultures. These houses were used specifically for mortuary services and, although they required many more resources to build and maintain than a crypt, they were widely used. They offered privacy and shelter as well as enough workspace for mortuary proceedings. These proceedings included cremation (in the included crematorium) as well as defleshing of the body before the cremation. Once the houses had served their purpose, they were burned to the ground and covered by earth, creating a sort of burial mound. Anthropologist William F. Romain in "Mysteries of the Hopewell" notes that these charnel houses were built in the form of a square, and their diagonals could be aligned to the direction of maximum and minimum moon-sets both north and south.

England.

Charnel houses do not appear to have been common in England. The earliest reference found to a charnel house was in the parish of St Mary-at-Hill in London, during the sixteenth century. Few other charnel houses are attested in the seventeenth century, usually within overcrowded urban contexts.

A charnel house is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging graves. The term can also be used more generally as a description of a place filled with death and destruction.


History.

After their 1979 album "Sunnyvista" had sold poorly, Richard and Linda Thompson found themselves without a record deal. In the spring of 1980 they toured as the support act for Gerry Rafferty and in June of that year they recorded some demo tracks at Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire.  Later that same year and with the Thompsons still without a contract, Rafferty stepped in and offered to finance and produce a new Richard and Linda Thompson album and then use his contacts in the industry and the finished album to secure a new contract with the Thompsons. This album was recorded during September and October 1980 at Chipping Norton Recording Studios in Oxfordshire.  As the project proceeded there was increasing tension between Richard Thompson and Rafferty. Thompson preferred a spontaneous approach to recording and found Rafferty's time-consuming and perfectionist approach hard to cope with. He also felt increasingly frozen out of the project: "When he got to the mixing, I just didn’t bother to turn up... because if I said something it was totally ignored and I thought 'hey, whose record is this anyway?'"  Nevertheless, the album was completed, but Rafferty could not interest any record companies and lost in the region of £30,000 on the project. Copies of the tapes of the Rafferty-sponsored sessions have subsequently become available as a bootleg under the titles "Rafferty's Folly" and "Before Joe Could Pull the Trigger".  Finally, in the summer of 1981 Joe Boyd signed the Thompsons to his small Hannibal label, and in November of that year the Thompsons went back into the studio and recorded a new album. Boyd's proposal, which the Thompsons accepted, was that the album be recorded in a matter of days so that money could be put aside for a tour of the USA. The resulting "Shoot Out the Lights" included fresh recordings of six songs that had been recorded during the Rafferty-sponsored sessions and two newer songs. Linda Thompson was several months pregnant when the album was recorded and so there was no prospect of an immediate release or supporting tour. By the time the album was released Richard and Linda Thompson's marriage was over.  Ironically, the album that was recorded when the Thompsons' career seemed all but over and which turned out to be their last album together was their best selling album and acclaimed as one of their greatest artistic achievements. "Shoot Out the Lights" and the May 1982 tour were crucial in re-launching Richard Thompson's career and in restoring his reputation as a songwriter and guitar player.

Critical response.

For a release on an independent label, "Shoot Out the Lights" had a significant critical impact. Robert Christgau made it a pick hit saying "these are powerfully double-edged metaphors for the marriage struggle". At the end of 1982, many critics placed the album on their year-end "best of" lists, for example, placing it at #2 on "The Village Voice" Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. It has continued to be highly regarded. AllMusic praises it as "a meditation on love and loss in which beauty, passion, and heady joy can still be found in defeat". And The Rolling Stone Album Guide called the album "absolutely perfect" and cited it for its "vividly emotional writing and the stirringly impassioned playing".  In 1987, "Shoot Out the Lights" was ranked #24 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's "100 Best Albums of the Last 20 Years" and in 1989 it was ranked #9 on the same magazine's list of "The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties". The album was ranked number 332 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was voted number 422 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums" (2000). In March 2005, "Q" magazine placed the title song at number 99 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

Release history.

In 1990 Hannibal released "Shoot Out the Lights" on CD with the B-side "Living in Luxury" as a bonus track on the first run. This song is not included on any subsequent editions of the album. In 1993 Rykodisc released it as part of their AU20 Mastering Gold CD series, with Dr. Toby Mountain of Northeastern Digital Recording, Inc., in Southborough, Massachusetts using Sony's proprietary Super Bit Mapping (SBM) mastering process to reduce the digital master from 20-bit to 16-bit required for the Red Book compact disc standard. Mountain again remastered the album in 2004 for release on Super Audio CD (SACD) on Rykodisc. In 2005 the album was reissued on 180 gram vinyl by the 4 Men With Beards label. In October 2010 Rhino Handmade issued a deluxe 2CD edition of the album with 11 live bonus tracks and a 40-page booklet.

Track listing.

All songs written by Richard Thompson except as noted.  "Living in Luxury" (2:32) was a B-side included as a bonus track on reissues of the album.  A two-disc "de luxe" edition of this album was issued by Rhino Handmade Records in October 2010. The first disc had the eight tracks of the original album. The second disc comprised live tracks recorded during the 1982 tour of the USA.  The tracks on the second disc are  All tracks composed by Richard Thompson except where noted otherwise.

Shoot Out the Lights is the sixth and final album by British husband-and-wife rock duo Richard and Linda Thompson. It was produced by Joe Boyd and released in 1982 on his Hannibal label. A critically acclaimed work, AllMusic's Mark Deming noted that "Shoot Out the Lights" has "often been cited as Richard Thompson's greatest work, and it's difficult for anyone who has heard his body of work to argue the point."


Year summary.

Early hard court season.

Federer began the year by attempting to defend his title at the Australian Open. Federer suffered an illness related to food poisoning prior to the start of the Australian Open. He lost, however, in the semifinals to eventual champion Djokovic, 5–7, 3–6, 6–7. This ended his record of ten consecutive Grand Slam finals, the most ever for a men's player.  In March, Federer revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with mononucleosis and that he may have suffered from it as early as December 2007. He noted, however, that he was now ""medically cleared to compete"". Despite being cleared to compete Federer admitted that he had suffered a significant dip in fitness due to his struggle with mononucleosis, which would prove to negatively impact his results till the Miami Masters in which he lost to long-time foe, Andy Roddick.  Although Federer was seeded first and was the defending champion at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, he lost to Murray in the first round. On 10 March, Federer won his third exhibition match out of four against former world no. 1 Pete Sampras at Madison Square Garden in New York City, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6.

Clay court season.

Federer began the clay-court season at the Estoril Open in Portugal. This was his first tournament with coach José Higueras. and his first non-Master Series clay-court tournament since Gstaad in 2004. Federer won his first tournament of the year, when Nikolay Davydenko retired from the final while trailing, 7–6, 1–2 with a leg ligament strain.  Federer then played three Masters Series tournaments on clay. At the Masters Series Monte Carlo, Federer lost to three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the final in straight sets. Federer made 44 unforced errors, lost a 4–0 lead in the second set, and fell to 1–7 against Nadal on clay courts. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Štěpánek. Federer was the defending champion at the Masters Series Hamburg, but lost to Nadal in the final.  At the French Open, Federer was defeated quickly by Nadal in the final, 1–6, 3–6, 0–6. This was the fourth consecutive year that Federer and Nadal had played at the French Open, with Federer losing his third consecutive final to Nadal. Federer's record of 23–4 (2005–08) at the French Open is second only to Nadal's record of 28–0 during the same period.

Grass court season.

Federer bounced back by winning the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany without dropping a set or a service game. This was the fifth time he had won this event. With this result, he tied Pete Sampras's record for most titles on grass in the open era with 10.  At Wimbledon, Federer once again played world no. 2 Nadal in the final. A victory for Federer would have meant his sixth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, breaking Borg's modern era men's record and equaling the all-time record held since 1886 by William Renshaw. Federer saved two championship points in the fourth set tiebreak, but eventually lost the match, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–9. The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play, making it the longest (in terms of elapsed time) men's final in Wimbledon recorded history. It concluded 7 hours, 15 minutes after its scheduled start. The defeat also ended Federer's 65-match winning streak on grass. John McEnroe described the match as ""The greatest match I've ever seen."" After Nadal surpassed him as world no. 1 later in the year, Federer stated that his main goal would be to regain the Wimbledon title, rather than the top spot.

Summer hard court season.

Federer made early exits in his next two singles tournaments, the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Federer was chosen to carry the national flag at the Beijing Olympics. At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to James Blake for the first time in their nine matches. Federer however, finally won his first Olympic gold medal in the men's doubles, when he and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka upset the world no. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States in the semifinals and defeated Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the final, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7, 6–3. The following day, Federer lost his world no. 1 ranking to Nadal after 237 consecutive weeks.  At the US Open, Federer reached the fourth round without dropping a set. He defeated third-seeded Novak Djokovic in a rematch of the 2007 US Open Final, 6–3, 5–7, 7–5, 6–2, in the semifinals, and then defeated Andy Murray, who was playing in his first Grand Slam final, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2, to win his fifth straight US Open title and 13th career Grand Slam title, leaving him one Grand Slam title from tying Pete Sampras's all-time record of 14. This extended his US Open winning streak to 34 matches. Federer became the first player in tennis history to have five consecutive wins at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

Fall indoor season.

At the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid, Federer reached the semifinals without losing a set. There he lost to Murray, 6–3, 3–6, 5–7. Meanwhile, he became the all-time leader in career prize money in men's tennis, earning over US$43.3 million at the end of the tournament and surpassing 14-time Grand Slam singles champion Pete Sampras.  Federer won his 57th career title at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, beating David Nalbandian in the final. He became the only player in history to win the title three consecutive years.  He reached the quarterfinals of his next event, the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, before withdrawing because of back pain. This was the first time in Federer's career of 763 matches that he had withdrawn from a tournament. This meant that 2008 was the first year since 2003 in which he did not win a Masters Series title. Federer entered the Tennis Masters Cup as the top-seeded player, after Nadal withdrew from the tournament. He drew Simon, Murray, and Roddick in the Red Group. In his opening match, Federer lost to Simon, but kept his hopes alive by defeating Roddick's replacement, Stepanek, in his second match. He lost his third match to Murray, 6–4, 6–7, 5–7. Federer had received medical treatment for back and hip problems in the third set, but lost after saving seven match points. However, Federer still ended the year ranked world no. 2.

Matches.

All matches.

Doubles.

Source (ATP)

Roger Federer won one slam in 2008, which came at the 2008 US Open, defeating Briton Andy Murray, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2. Federer was defeated by Rafael Nadal in two Grand Slam finals: at the 2008 French Open, which he lost 1–6, 3–6, 0–6, and at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships in a five-setter, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–9, when he was going for six straight wins to break Björn Borg's record. At the 2008 Australian Open, Federer lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, ending his record of 10 consecutive Major finals. Roger Federer lost twice in Master Series 1000 Finals on clay to Nadal at Monte Carlo and Hamburg. However, Federer was able to capture three more victories in 250-level events at Estoril, Halle, and Basel.


Year summary.

Early hard-court season.

In preparation for the Australian Open, Federer played two exhibition tournaments and one official tournament. He lost to Murray in the semifinals of the Capitala World Tennis exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. He then lost in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour 250 series tournament in Doha, Qatar to Murray. Federer won the AAMI Classic exhibition in Melbourne, when he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the final.  Federer defeated each of his first three opponents in straight sets at the Australian Open. In the fourth round, Federer rallied from two sets down to defeat Tomáš Berdych. Federer reached his record 19th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal by defeating eighth-seeded Juan Martín del Potro in the quarterfinals in only 80 minutes. In his 18th Grand Slam final, Federer was defeated by long-time rival Nadal in their first meeting on a hard court in a Grand Slam tournament. The match lasted over four hours, with Nadal victorious in five sets. Federer broke down in tears during the trophy presentation and struggled to make his runner-up speech. Federer blamed the defeat on a lack of rhythm in his first serve.  Federer withdrew from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships and from Switzerland's Davis Cup tie against the U.S. because of a back injury he sustained in late 2008. He stated it was "a precautionary measure" to make sure his back is "fully rehabilitated... for the rest of the 2009 season". On 4 March, Federer's agent, Tony Godsick, announced that the Australian tennis coach Darren Cahill was working with Federer on a trial basis at Federer's training base in Dubai. One week later, Cahill opted out of the coaching position, citing the travel commitment needed.  Federer played both of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in the United States. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, Federer lost to Murray in the semifinals. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Federer defeated his first three opponents in straight sets, after receiving a first round bye. In the semifinals against Novak Djokovic, Federer lost a match that included Federer's smashing his racket in frustration after missing a forehand approach shot by hitting it into the net, which is the same shot that cost him the 2008 Wimbledon final.

Clay season and French Open titles.

After initially deciding not to participate, Federer accepted a last-minute wildcard entry at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, his first clay-court event of the year. He lost to Stanislas Wawrinka for the first time in the third round. In the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series event on clay, Federer lost to Djokovic for the first time on clay.  Federer received a first-round bye in the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, the last ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series event on clay for the year. He defeated Nadal in the final. This ended Nadal's 33-match winning streak on clay, and for the second time Federer prevented Nadal from becoming the first man to win all three Masters Series on clay in the same year.  In the 2009 French Open, in a fourth-round encounter, Federer had to come back from two sets to love down to defeat Tommy Haas. He defeated Gaël Monfils in the quarterfinals to reach his 20th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal. He reached his fourth straight final in Paris by outlasting del Potro after coming back from 2–1 down. He won the French Open for the first time by beating Robin Söderling in the final. With this win, Federer equaled Pete Sampras's men's record of 14 Grand Slam titles and Ivan Lendl's record of 19 Grand Slam finals, and also became the sixth man in history to complete a Career Grand Slam. The call by Eurosport on match point was thus: "Federer wins the French Open for the first time in his career; and in addition must surely be regarded now as the greatest male player of all-time."  Owing to the overwhelming emotions and fatigue brought by the tournament, Federer withdrew from the Gerry Weber Open, his usual pre-Wimbledon tournament.

Grass season: Channel Slam, and smashing the all-time record.

Federer became the highest seed for Wimbledon, after defending champion Nadal withdrew from the tournament due to tendinitis. Federer defeated Lu Yen-hsun in the first round. He moved safely into the third round with a win over Guillermo García-López. In the third round, Federer defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber. Federer then booked a place in the quarterfinals by defeating Söderling. In the quarterfinals, Federer cruised past Ivo Karlović, to extend his all-time record of consecutive Grand Slam semifinals to 21. In the semifinals, Federer defeated Tommy Haas to reach his seventh consecutive Wimbledon final, an all-time record. With this win, he also reached his 20th Grand Slam final, surpassing the previous record of 19 set by Lendl. In a match that took 4 hours and 17 minutes to complete, he beat Roddick in the final in the latest chapter of their long, though lopsided rivalry, regaining the world no. 1 spot from Rafael Nadal. The 30 total games in the fifth set was a new Grand Slam record. The match was also the longest men's singles final (in terms of games played) in Grand Slam history, with 77 games played, and the fifth set alone lasted 95 minutes. The match has been called an "instant classic" by ESPN, and received the highest TV ratings in the UK for any Wimbledon final since 2001. With the win, he also became the fourth man in the open era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year (the "Channel Slam"), following Nadal in 2008, Borg in 1978–1980, and Laver in 1969. He also joined Nadal as the only players to simultaneously hold Grand Slams on clay, grass, and hard court (2008 US Open, 2009 French Open, 2009 Wimbledon).

Summer hard-court season.

Federer won his first match after a five-week break at the second round of the 2009 Rogers Cup against Frédéric Niemeyer following a first-round bye. He then defeated countryman Stanislas Wawrinka after coming back from three games down in the second set; in doing so, he made more history by contributing to the first occasion where the top 8 ranked men had all made the quarterfinals of a single tournament, joining the other seven players: Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Roddick, del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Davydenko. However, in the quarterfinals, he lost to Tsonga despite leading by four games in the final set. Despite the relatively early exit in Montreal, Federer started off well at the 2009 Cincinnati Open, beating José Acasuso in the second round (after having another bye in the first round like the other top seeds) and David Ferrer in the third round. He then beat Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals, followed by Murray in the semifinals to reach the final, where he defeated Novak Djokovic.  Federer began his US Open campaign well with a victory over unseeded Devin Britton. He advanced to the third round with a second-round win over Simon Greul. His third-round match was against Hewitt, against whom he lost his first set of the tournament, but eventually rallied to win the match. After this match, Federer held a 16–7 lead over Hewitt, continuing a fourteen match winning streak against him. Federer next defeated Tommy Robredo to book a quarterfinal berth against Robin Söderling for the third Grand Slam in a row, which he won in four sets after saving a set point in the fourth set. Federer reached his 21st Grand Slam final by defeating fourth seed Novak Djokovic for the third straight year. He triumphed and, in doing so, reached match point by performing a between-the-legs passing shot, which he later described as "...the greatest shot I ever hit in my life." He lost to del Potro in the final in five sets. The loss broke Federer's streak of forty consecutive wins at the US Open. It also marked the first time Federer had lost in a Grand Slam final to an opponent other than Rafael Nadal.

Fall indoor season.

Federer went on to play in the Davis Cup tie with Italy, and in his first match on the red clay courts at Valletta Cambiaso Club, in Genoa, won in a match against Simone Bolelli. He sealed Switzerland's qualification for the World Group with a victory over Potito Starace. Following the match, Federer was quoted as saying "I was able to play very well. I have to go on holiday badly. I have a problem with my leg, I have a problem with my arm – everything is hurting. And I've got to do some baby-sitting." He later withdrew from the 2009 Japan Open and the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000.  At the Davidoff Swiss Indoors, Federer defeated Olivier Rochus, Andreas Seppi, Evgeny Korolev, and his childhood friend Marco Chiudinelli in straight sets, before losing in the finals to Novak Djokovic.  Federer's next tournament was the Paris Masters, where his six previous appearances had never extended past the quarterfinals. After a first-round bye, Federer continued his Paris Open struggles with an early exit to second-round opponent Julien Benneteau.  Federer's final tournament of the year was the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals. He beat Fernando Verdasco in the first of his round-robin matches, followed by a victory over Andy Murray, which secured him the year-end no. 1 ranking for the fifth year. However, he lost to del Potro once more, but he won enough games to qualify for the semifinals. In the semifinals, he met Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Federer for the first time in their 13 encounters. This loss ended Roger Federer's 2009 tennis season.  The year saw Federer accomplishing three major goals: winning his first French Open title, breaking Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam wins, and regaining the no. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal.

Roger Federer won two Majors in 2009, the French Open, defeating Robin Söderling in the final, and the Wimbledon Championships with a victory over Andy Roddick. In addition, Federer made two other Grand Slam finals, Australian Open losing to Rafael Nadal, and the US Open, losing to Juan Martín del Potro. Federer went on to win two other Master Series 1000 tournaments: in Madrid over Rafael Nadal, and in Cincinnati over Novak Djokovic. He lost in one 500 level event final in Basel to Djokovic. During the year, Federer completed the Career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open title, and won a record fifteenth Grand Slam singles title, one more than Pete Sampras's mark of fourteen.


Overview.

After the release of the Byrds' "(Untitled)" album, the band continued to tour extensively throughout late 1970 and early 1971 in support of the record. With the band's career experiencing a revival of commercial fortunes, the Byrds elected to continue working with Terry Melcher, who had produced the band's two previous albums. Unfortunately, the grueling pace of the band's touring schedule meant that they were under-prepared for the recording of their next album, with little or no time to develop the material that they intended to include. Sessions for "Byrdmaniax" commenced on October 6, 1970, just three weeks after the release of "(Untitled)", and continued throughout January and March 1971, with the band recording twelve new songs as well as revisiting an outtake from the "(Untitled)" sessions, "Kathleen's Song". The album's pre-release working title was "Expensive", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the bloated costs incurred during the recording of the album, but ultimately this was dropped in favor of the less opulent sounding "Byrdmaniax".

Music.

Among guitarist Roger McGuinn's songwriting contributions to the album was the modal acoustic ballad "Pale Blue" (co-written with drummer Gene Parsons). The song's title can be seen as a metaphor for a mood, while its romantic lyrics deal with the conflicting themes of freedom and security. With its melancholy sense of longing, folksy instrumentation, and sensitive lead vocal performance, "Pale Blue" is often regarded by critics as being one of the most successful musical statements on the album as well as something of a lost classic among the Byrds' oeuvre. Another McGuinn-penned song included on "Byrdmaniax" was the commercially unsuccessful, quasi-gospel single "I Trust" (re-titled as "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" for the single release). The song's title and lyrical refrain was inspired by McGuinn's personal catchphrase, "I trust everything will turn out alright", which itself had been borrowed by the guitarist during the mid-1960s from the best-selling book "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale.  McGuinn's other compositional contributions to "Byrdmaniax" were two songs that he had written with lyricist Jacques Levy for the pair's aborted Broadway musical, "Gene Tryp". Of these, "Kathleen's Song" had originally been intended for a scene in which the song's eponymous heroine patiently waits for Gene Tryp, her lover, to return home from his travels. "Kathleen's Song" had, in fact, been recorded in June 1970 during the recording sessions for "(Untitled)" but had been omitted from that album at the eleventh hour, due to a lack of space. As a result, there are promo copies of "(Untitled)" known to exist that list the song (under the abbreviated title "Kathleen") on the album sleeve. The Byrds returned to "Kathleen's Song" in January and March 1971, undertaking additional recording work in order to ready the track for release on "Byrdmaniax". The second "Gene Tryp" song included on the album was "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician", a whimsical ragtime pastiche that had been written for a scene in the musical in which the hero, Gene Tryp, runs as a presidential candidate. The song found a second lease of life away from the confines of "Gene Tryp", however, when its satirical lyrics found favor with America's radical youth, who were rebelling against the Nixon administration during the early 1970s.  "Byrdmaniax" also included a pair of novelty songs penned by the band's bass player, Skip Battin, and his songwriting partner Kim Fowley. The first of these, "Tunnel of Love", was an organ driven Fats Domino pastiche, while the second, "Citizen Kane", served as a wry comment on Hollywood life and its celebrity legacy during the 1940s and 1950s. Unfortunately, the inclusion of these two songs, along with McGuinn and Levy's jaunty "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician", caused the album to suffer from an overabundance of pastiche and whimsy. A third Battin–Fowley song, "Absolute Happiness", was more serious, with its dramatic lyrics providing a Buddhism-inspired meditation on positive values and the power of nature.  The album's opening track, "Glory, Glory", was borrowed by drummer Gene Parsons from the repertoire of The Art Reynolds Singers, just as "Jesus Is Just Alright" on "Ballad of Easy Rider" had been. Despite featuring a striking piano part and strong gospel backing vocals, the song lacked the immediacy of "Jesus Is Just Alright", as producer Terry Melcher admitted in a 1977 interview: "We were aiming to cut another 'Jesus Is Just Alright', but we didn't make it. Larry Knechtel played piano on this cut but it was too fast. The whole thing was a mess." The album also included a bluegrass instrumental named "Green Apple Quick Step", written by Parsons and lead guitarist Clarence White, which featured guest musicians Eric White, Sr. (Clarence's father) on harmonica and Byron Berline on fiddle. White also brought the Helen Carter song "My Destiny" to the recording sessions, having first learned it during his days as a bluegrass musician. White elected to sing lead vocal on the track but unfortunately his nasal voice and the band's lackluster musical backing gave the recording a fatalistic and dirge-like quality. The final track on "Byrdmaniax" was a rendition of "Jamaica Say You Will", written by the then unknown Jackson Browne and featuring a Clarence White vocal performance that is widely regarded as one of his best on a Byrds' album.  In addition to the eleven songs included on the original LP, at least two outtakes from the album sessions are known to exist: a recording of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman"—which had also been attempted during the "(Untitled)" recording sessions—and a cover of ex-Byrd Gene Clark's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better". Both songs remained in the Columbia vaults for almost 29 years, before finally being released in 2000 as bonus tracks on the Columbia/Legacy reissue of "Byrdmaniax". The version of "Just Like a Woman" recorded for the album in 1971 represented the last Dylan song that the Byrds would record until "Paths of Victory", during the 1990 reunion sessions that were included on "The Byrds" box set. A third outtake from the album sessions that is rumored to exist is the Parsons–White composition "Blue Grease". This song was included in a pre-release track listing for the album that was published in the Byrds' fanclub newsletter, "The Byrds Bulletin", in early 1971. However, the track failed to appear on the album and may not have even been recorded by the band, since there is no mention of it in the Columbia files or in contemporary studio documentation.

Post-production.

Following the completion of recording sessions for the album in early March 1971, the Byrds headed out on tour again, leaving Terry Melcher and engineer Chris Hinshaw to finish mixing the album. In the Byrds' absence, Melcher and Hinshaw brought in arranger Paul Polena to assist with the overdubbing of strings, horns, and a gospel choir onto many of the songs, at a reported cost of $100,000 and allegedly without the band's consent. When the band heard the extent of Melcher's additions they protested to Columbia Records, campaigning to have the album remixed and the orchestration removed but the record company held firm, citing budget restrictions, and the record was duly pressed up and released.  For his part, Melcher defended his actions by explaining that the band's performances in the studio were lackluster and that the orchestration was needed to cover up the album's musical shortcomings. In a 1977 interview with the Byrds' biographer Johnny Rogan, Melcher attempted to illustrate the situation in the recording studio during the making of the album and also explain his rationale for the orchestral additions: "Several members of the group were involved in divorces and they were hiding from their wives. It was complete bedlam in the studio. Everyone had too many problems. There was a lack of interest on everybody's part. I was trying to save the album, but it was a mistake. I should have called a halt." Melcher also succinctly highlighted his lack of confidence in the quality of the material that the band had recorded: "I think the orchestration was a big mistake, but the songs were weak." As for not obtaining the band's consent for the overdubs, Melcher explained "I admit that I wasn't in consultation with them a lot and I didn't really deal with Clarence, Battin or Parsons on these matters. But I'm sure it was inconceivable that McGuinn did not know about the orchestration."  The band themselves were far from happy with the album and upon its release, were vocal in press interviews about their dissatisfaction. Even two years later, Clarence White complained to journalist Pete Frame that "Terry Melcher put strings on while we were on the road, we came back and we didn't even recognize it as our own album." Gene Parsons disowned the album completely, describing it as "Melcher's folly" and commenting in interviews that the band were all appalled by what they heard when they returned from touring. McGuinn actually defended Melcher somewhat by indicating in an interview with the English journalist Keith Altham that the album had been taken away from the producer at the last minute and given to an engineer in San Francisco to remix. However, the production credits on the original LP sleeve do not support McGuinn's claim and Melcher later stated that he had no recollection of the album being mixed by anyone other than himself. In more recent years, McGuinn has conceded to journalist David Fricke that the album's shortcomings were not down to Melcher's over-production alone: "We were just idling artistically, the album sounds like we really weren't concentrating on doing good work, good art."

Release and reception.

"Byrdmaniax" was released on June 23, 1971 in the United States (catalogue item KC 30640) and August 6, 1971 in the United Kingdom (catalogue item S 64389). Although the album was issued in stereo commercially, there is some evidence to suggest that mono copies of the album (possibly radio station promos) were distributed in the UK. As well as being issued in the standard stereo format, "Byrdmaniax" was also released in 1971 as a Quadraphonic LP in Japan on the CBS Sony label (catalogue item SOPL-34001). The quadraphonic version of the album features a noticeably different mix to the standard stereo version.  The album peaked at #46 on the "Billboard" Top LPs chart, during a chart stay of ten weeks, but failed to chart in the UK. A single, "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" b/w "(Is This) My Destiny", was released ahead of the album on May 7, 1971 in the UK, to coincide with a European tour, but it did not chart. A second single taken from the album, "Glory, Glory" (b/w "Citizen Kane"), was released on August 20, 1971 and reached #110 on the "Billboard" chart but again failed to chart in the UK. The striking album cover artwork, featuring a set of silver "death masks"—one for each member of the band—was designed by Virginia Team and Grammy Award-winning Columbia Records' art director, John Berg. These foreboding plaster facemasks, which were created by artist Mary Leonard and photographed by Don Jim, have been regarded by some critics as an accurate visual representation of the lifeless music on the album and the declining state of the band in 1971.  Upon its release, "Byrdmaniax" was greeted positively by the UK music press but received scathing reviews in the U.S. Richard Meltzer's review in the August 1971 edition of "Rolling Stone" magazine was particularly vicious, with Meltzer describing the album as "increments of pus". The same review also described the McGuinn–Levy composition "I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician" as a song that was "degenerating into namby pamby innocuous mickey mouse with latent-blatant political content". Meltzer concluded his withering attack by deriding the Byrds themselves as "a boring dead group." In the UK, Roy Hollingworth's review in the August 14, 1971 edition of "Melody Maker" was more positive and described the album as "one sweet length of bursting Byrds sunshine, so perfect in quality and quantity you'd feel an absolute heel to ask for more." "Record Mirror" was also enthusiastic in its praise of the album, describing it as "another fine album by the Byrds." However, not all British reviews of "Byrdmaniax" were positive, with Richard Green of the "NME" noting that "When the true history of rock comes to be written, the Byrds will get a deserved place of honour on the strength of tunes like 'Mr. Tambourine Man', 'Eight Miles High', and 'So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star'. Hopefully the writer will not have listened to "Byrdmaniax" or he may drastically alter his opinion." Green was also critical of Terry Melcher's use of strings and horns on many of the tracks, concluding that "Orchestration is all very well for some bands, but not, on this showing, for the Byrds."  Today, "Byrdmaniax" is generally regarded as the Byrds' weakest album, as well as the least popular of any of the band's releases amongst their fanbase. Mark Deming, writing for the Allmusic website, has summed up the album by concluding "Not an awful album, but Byrdmaniax is hardly the pleasure it could have been in the hands of a more tasteful production team." In his 2000 review for "The Austin Chronicle", Raoul Hernandez gave the album a rating of three stars out of five, commenting ""Byrdmaniax" may be as disjointed as reviews claimed at the time, but most of these same critics didn't like "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" either, and if the Gram Parsons-blessed classic is ground zero for 'country rock' then "Maniax" is full-blown 'gospel rock'." "Rolling Stone" senior editor David Fricke remarked in 2000 that "Byrdmaniax" suffered not just from Melcher's inappropriate orchestration, but also from being a Byrds' album that is almost totally bereft of the Byrds' signature sound. According to Fricke, the familiar chime of McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker guitar is lost beneath the overbearing strings and the band's trademark harmonies are also largely absent from the album.  "Byrdmaniax" was remastered at 20-bit resolution as part of the Columbia/Legacy Byrds series. It was reissued in an expanded form on February 22, 2000 with three bonus tracks. These bonus tracks included an outtake version of Gene Clark's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better", sung by Clarence White (who had also played guitar on Clark's original 1967 solo recording of the song); a stripped-down alternate version of "Pale Blue"; and a rendition of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman". The remastered reissue also includes, as a hidden track, an alternate version of "Green Apple Quick Step", which is sometimes known by the alternate title "Byrdgrass". "Byrdmaniax" was again reissued in Japan in the Blu-Spec High Definition audio format on February 14, 2014. Bonus tracks Include the Mono promotional single version of 'Glory, Glory', a live version of 'I Trust', the previously released bonus tracks of 'Think I'm Gonna Feel better' and 'Just Like A Woman', and a newly uncovered studio song 'Nothin' To it'. The disc comes in a cd-sized gatefold paper sleeve album replica (Mini LP) with obi strip and booklet insert of notes (mostly in Japanese). Actual track durations are given in the booklet insert.

Personnel.

NOTES:

Byrdmaniax is the tenth album by the American rock band the Byrds. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records ("see" 1971 in music) at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two previous albums, "Ballad of Easy Rider" and "(Untitled)", had received. The album was the second by the Byrds to feature the Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parsons, and Skip Battin line-up of the band and was mostly recorded in early 1971, while the band were in the midst of an exhausting tour schedule. As a result, the band had little time to hone their new songs before recording commenced and thus, much of the material on the album is underdeveloped. "Byrdmaniax" was poorly received upon release, particularly in the United States, and did much to undermine the Byrds' new-found popularity.


Early life.

Donahue was born in Kingston, New York.

Music career.

Donahue helped form Mercury Rev, along with vocalist/guitarist David Baker, bassist Dave Fridmann, guitarist and clarinetist Grasshopper (born Sean Mackowiak), rooster-tail bass flutist Suzanne Thorpe, and drummer Jimy Chambers, in the late 1980s as a source to create soundtracks to the members' personal student films. The members were further encouraged to explore their talents by their mentor, minimalist composer and multimedia artist Tony Conrad.  Donahue also doubled as a concert promoter in Buffalo. After billing the Butthole Surfers and their opening act The Flaming Lips, Donahue joined the Flaming Lips around 1989/1990 as their guitar technician. He later joined the band as the full-time lead guitarist and played on the albums "In a Priest Driven Ambulance" and "Hit to Death in the Future Head".  After being a member of The Flaming Lips for around two years, Donahue and The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne began to disagree over creative issues. Donahue left the band shortly after recording "Hit to Death in the Future Head" and was replaced by Oklahoma City guitarist Ronald Jones.  After leaving The Flaming Lips, Donahue returned to Buffalo and focused his time on reforming Mercury Rev. Donahue was credited as having played the clarinet line for The Chemical Brothers' 1997 cult hit "The Private Psychedelic Reel", which has been the on and off closing song to their shows ever since. The clarinet part was actually played by former Mercury Rev reed player, Mark Marinoff.

Personal life.

His mother was Jewish from Transylvania and his father was Irish.  An avid hockey player, Donahue grew up a big fan of the Montreal Canadiens during the 1970s and 1980s.

Jonathan Daniel Donahue (born May 6, 1966) is an American rock musician. He helped form and remains a member of Mercury Rev and was a member of The Flaming Lips for around two years.


Plot summary.

The novel is set on the planet Pandora which is famous for its animated biosphere. Humans have built a base on it that serves as a biological laboratory and a hunting resort. The base is located at the top of 2 km high crag on a continent otherwise covered by forest. Biologists do not understand most of the processes occurring in the forest. Humans hunt in the forest for sport in the face of serious dangers.  The novel is divided into two parts: life in the base and life in the forest. The director of the base is Paul Gnedykh. He is responsible for overall safety, supply, and communication with Earth. He replaced the previous director after several deaths occurred on the base. One of the deaths was the biologist Mikhail "Athos" Sidorov, Gnedykh's childhood friend. Some biologists claimed they saw people in the forest, but nobody took them seriously (partially because such visions were seen when the bioblocade of the observer was weakened or expired). The forest is rapidly changing, such that maps completely obsolete in two years. Some trees move from place to place, while others show signs of feeling the "pain" of other trees. Leonid Gorbovsky stays on Pandora believing that the forest is dangerous. He wants to be near when the forest "starts acting" to be able to influence the process. Gorbovsky is upset because the base staff are being negligent about the forest, not taking the forest seriously enough.  One day a female hunter and gamekeeper becomes stranded in the forest and calls Paul Gnedykh for help. She calls from the same forest sector where Athos sent his last bearing signal. When Gnedykh and Gorbovsky arrive at the site, they see a mysterious organism that caused the helicopter crash. The organism is attracting trees and animals and eating them. It gives birth to several "children" every 87 minutes. The children are amorphous white creatures that move by means of pseudopods. The children first move from the parent uniformly in one direction. Gnedykh and Gorbovsky follow the children until they reach a lake and drown themselves. While observing the lake, Paul thinks he sees a human in the water, and records a video of the scene.  In the forest segment of the novel, Athos attempts to return to the base after living in a village in the middle of the forest. The villagers are in foggy states of mind but have abilities to "grow" themselves food, clothes, and houses; and control the flora around them. Athos was brought to the village seriously ill by Hurt-Martyr and Broken Leg - two village natives - and given a wife named Nava. Athos too has troubles with his memory. He encourages two villagers, Fist and Broken Leg, to make a trip to The City, a mysterious place, where Athos hopes to get information about how to return. Hurt-Martyr went to The City before, but never returned. The tribe tries to talk Athos out of his journey, citing the rumored Dead Ones walking around in the forest. Slightly before the planned trip, he goes on reconnaissance, and Nava follows him. They are attacked by a group of bandits, and after a brief fight they escape. They end up in another unfamiliar village where Athos meets people he recognizes as Karl and Valentine, other biologists from the base. He is unable to talk to them, as some uncontrollable fear compels him and Nava to run away from the village, now engulfed in violet fog.  When Nava wakes up the next morning she finds a scalpel in her hand. She is afraid of it, and Athos hides it in his clothing. Athos wants to return to the unfamiliar village, but when they do, they find it sinking into the water, the process referred to as Overcoming. After the trip to the sinking village, they meet three women, one of whom is Nava's mother who was captured by the Dead Ones before. Athos and Nava realize that the Dead Ones who capture women from the villages are actually droids that serve women who live in The City. These women (calling themselves Glorious Helpmates) consider men (and many other biological species) as useless, a "mistake", since the woman are able to breed non-sexually without men. These women profess control over "little ones", and control the violet fog, which is made up of bacteria that can be used for diverse purposes including communication and assassination. The Glorious Helpmates are participating in a battle with unspecified enemy. The front of this battle separates Athos from the base. The front is allegedly so biologically active that any living creature (even the Glorious Helpmates, who are protected) are likely to die there. The women take Nava from Athos. During the conversation he remembers several important experiences.  Athos is attacked by a Dead droid, which he kills with his scalpel and flees. He returns to his village, where he again encourages Fist and Broken Leg who unite and travel to the base at Devils Crag. Athos now understands that the villages will disappear because of Overcoming (the process led by the Glorious Helpmates) and wants to prevent this mass murder. Broken Leg does not want Athos to go since he believes Athos will die. In the entire section of the novel, there is almost not a single object iⱱn the forest that is not a mutable living thing. One can grow clothing from the forest, eat the ground itself as a meal, and so on.  The origin of people in the forest is unknown.

Relationship with other works.

The forest part of "Disquiet" is almost identical to the one of "Snail on the Slope", but their "base" parts are totally different, the "base" of "Snail" representative of some Kafkian bureaucratic civilization (allusive of the post-Stalinist Soviets), instead of the utopian culture of "Disquiet". Athos and Gorbovsky are substitutes of Kandid and Perez from "Snail on the Slope".  Mikhail "Athos" Sidorov also appears in the chapters "The Conspirators" and "The Assaultmen" of "" as a schoolkid and a biologist; in "Space Mowgli" as the Ark Project head; in the chapter "Defeat" of "" (that appears not in all variants of the text) as a head of small mechanical embryo testing group; in "The Time Wanderers" as a president of "Ural-North" sector of COMCON-2. The last two listed appearances certainly happen after his life in the forest at Pandora.  There is also a point of view that "Disquiet" is a fictional work within the Noon Universe rather than the full-fledged part of Noon Universe canon  There are some striking similarities between the 2009 James Cameron's film "Avatar" and the "forest" part of the novel, as attested by Boris Strugatsky himself.

References.

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Disquiet () is a 1965 science fiction novel by Soviet-Russian writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, set in the Noon Universe. It is the initial variant of the novel "Snail on the Slope" ("Улитка на склоне") which has a different set of characters and is not set in the Noon Universe. After completing the first draft, the authors felt a need to take the novel in a different direction, which resulted in the creation of "Snail on the Slope". However, twenty-five years later, they examined the initial draft and concluded that it was a decent novel in its own right. In 1990, it was published in «Измерение-Ф» [Dimension F] magazine. In 1995, feeling the need to expose it to a wider readership, Boris Strugastky published it online (but it has been taken offline by his heirs).


Structure.

The biliary tract refers to the path by which bile is secreted by the liver then transported to the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. A structure common to most members of the mammal family, the biliary tract is often referred to as a tree because it begins with many small branches that end in the common bile duct, sometimes referred to as the trunk of the biliary tree. The duct, the branches of the hepatic artery, and the portal vein form the central axis of the portal triad. Bile flows in the direction opposite to that of the blood present in the other two channels.  The system is usually referred to as the biliary tract or system, and can include the use of the term "hepatobiliary" when used to refer just to the liver and bile ducts. The name biliary tract is used to refer to all of the ducts, structures and organs involved in the production, storage and secretion of bile.  The tract is as follows:

Function.

Bile is secreted by the liver into small ducts that join to form the common hepatic duct. Between meals, secreted bile is stored in the gall bladder, where 80–90% of the water and electrolytes can be absorbed, leaving the bile acids and cholesterol. During a meal, the smooth muscles in the gallbladder wall contract, leading to the bile being secreted into the duodenum to rid the body of waste stored in the bile as well as aid in the absorption of dietary fats and oils by solubilizing them using bile acids.

Clinical significance.

Pressure inside in the biliary tree can give rise to gallstones and lead to cirrhosis of the liver.  The biliary tract can also serve as a reservoir for intestinal tract infections. Since the biliary tract is an internal organ, it has no somatic nerve supply, and biliary colic due to infection and inflammation of the biliary tract is not a somatic pain. Rather, pain may be caused by luminal distension, which causes stretching of the wall. This is the same mechanism that causes pain in bowel obstructions.  An obstruction of the biliary tract can result in jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes.

The biliary tract, (biliary tree or biliary system) refers to the liver, gall bladder and bile ducts, and how they work together to make, store and secrete bile. Bile consists of water, electrolytes, bile acids, cholesterol, phospholipids and conjugated bilirubin. Some components are synthesised by hepatocytes (liver cells), the rest are extracted from the blood by the liver.


Plot summary.

The novel tells the story of Gack, a teenage boy from Giganda. Gack is a cadet commando in "Fighting Cats": an elite army unit of "the Alai Duchy". In the first chapter of the novel, Gack is mortally wounded in a dogfight with an attacking tank unit of the army of "the Empire". Kornei Yashmaa, a progressor finds him and takes him to Earth where the doctors practically resurrect Gack. Yashmaa tries to help Gack adjust to life on Earth.  However, Gack does not want to cooperate, neither he believes that Earth is real. At first, he thinks that everything Yashmaa and other Earthlings tell him is a part of his psychological training as an officer of the Alai Army. Even after Yashmaa proves to him that he is indeed on a different planet, Gack still thinks that he was sent to Earth with an unknown secret mission by the Alai military.  His next idea is that the Earth wants to conquer Giganda and wants to use him as a test subject or a future propaganda agent. As he learns more about the technology and lifestyle on Earth (he is even given an android servant), he becomes more and more confused. Accidentally, Gack discovers that other Gigandians have been taken to Earth as well, but they have integrated into the society and do not want to deal with him.  After a month since Gack's arrival on Earth, Yashmaa tells him that the war on Giganda was stopped by progressors and that the Alai Duchy as well as the Empire is no more. Gack is shocked by the news so much that he demands to go back to Giganda immediately. When Yashmaa refuses, Gack tries to escape by force. With the help of his android servant, he manages to construct an assault rifle and ammunition to it. Gack threatens to shoot Yashmaa if he does not send him back. Yashmaa can easily disarm Gack, but, persuaded by Gack's actions, decides to let him go.  In the last chapter Gack is back on Giganda and helps local doctors cure a plague ravaging a nearby city. He is home.

The Kid from Hell () is a 1974 science fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky set in the Noon Universe. The English translation was included in a single volume entitled "Escape Attempt" with the other Noon universe stories "Escape Attempt" and "Space Mowgli".