Another year ending in 4

Is History Trying to Rhyme?

What. A. Week.

The last time I experienced a political earthquake, I was playing in New York City but the year was 1974. Another President of the United States was under investigation for attempting to underhandedly tilt an election more in his favor by “hacking” the DNC headquarters.

Here we are again, 50 years later with yet another even more audacious election-related scheme attempted by a now-convicted former Republican President. Like the 1973 scheme, the execution was sloppy and not all that well thought out, subsequently he got caught.

Thanks to a pair of intrepid newspaper reporters, Richard Nixon, the “thought-he-was-smarter-then-everybody-else guy” was now on the hot seat in May 1973 televised hearings Thanks to Senator Ervin.

Within hours of this writing, Donald Trump, the latest chief executive attempting to scam the system was convicted of the crimes he was charged with.

I wrote here about the adventures of four Iowa musicians on the scene in Chicago and New York City in 1974, during those days of high political drama.

While Watergate was unfolding however, I was fully engaged writing, recording and touring with the Chase band. I had a lot to concentrate on so Nixon’s daily travails were not top-of-mind at that point.

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As fate would have it, Herbie Hancock the legendary jazz pianist and Bill Chase, were both signed to the Columbia/Epic record label in 1974. Our album titled Pure Music album and Herbie’s new album (Headhunters) were both nearing completion in late spring of 74. Columbia arranged for both bands to play a couple of promotional tours together. The venues were to be in New York City [The Half Note] and Boston [The Jazz Showcase]

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*Stylistically speaking, some innovations of musician of the era were very controversial. Like Bob Dylan going electric earlier in the 60’s, jazzers abandoning the traditional all-acoustic format to ‘go electric’ caused existential angst in some musicians and audiences. Interestingly both Chase and Herbie Hancock were at home integrating electronic instruments into their shows.

The two performances here were part of the media/press events held in April 1974 at the Half Note Jazz Club. While these recordings hardly define the total legacy of the period, the vast sonic differences reflected in these examples will give you some idea of the expanding palette of sounds destined to transform the music of the next 50 years.

Please join me now as we travel back to the last time a Republican president was (ahem) testing the boundaries of our legal system and musicians of the Jazz/Rock period were stretching and redefining the boundaries of what might be called Jazz.

Hear the Headhunters’ earthen funkiness on Hancock’s 1962 hit Watermelon Man

Now hear show opener “Bo-Cha-Wa” written by Bill Chase. Solos by Bill Chase and Jay Sollenberger (trumpets) Walter Yohn (Hammond organ and Arp 2600 synthesizer with John Emma (guitar solo) Walter Clark is the monster on drums

(tech note: If you were having trouble hearing the music, we just reloaded it so please try again) 2:20pmCST

The author talking Jazz-Rock history with Herbie Hancock at Des Moines’ Hoyt Sherman Place in March 2024

[As always, watch the volume if you have sensitive ears.

Irony dept. In 1974, Bill Chase and Herbie Hancock had recordings that they wanted the world to hear. Former President Nixon was also making recordings…just not a performance he wanted anyone else to hear. Kinda Like that Wu Tang album.

..One Last Thing dept.

Check out the continuing saga of my friend Shadric Smith, while I was in New Yahk Sih-Tay he was chillin’ in Colorardo. Iowa boys are everywhere.

[All music, words and images posted here are from Dartanyan’s archives.]

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative

Below is a list of the members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please support their work by sharing and subscribing. Paid subscribers are invited to attend real-time events and occasional Zoom calls among our writers. Your support keeps this reader-only supported service going. 

Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center

Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Tory Brecht: Brecht’s Beat, Quad Cities

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup

Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia

Chris Jones, Chris’s Substack, Des Moines

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters from Iowans, Iowa

Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Vicki Minor, Relatively Minor, Winterset

Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines

Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids

Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines

Macey Shofroth: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Kali White VanBaale, 988: Mental Healthcare in Iowa, Bondurant

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines