COUNTRY SUNSHINE

 

COUNTRY SUNSHINE

4- 23-2022

I am sitting in my studio listening to Derick and The Dominoes live recording done at Fillmore East. This has been one of my favorite bands throughout the years. 'Course you know my love for Leon Russell's early work, but that's how I learned about Clapton.

The Dominoes, four very fine musicians at the peak of their artistic and creative abilities. Their work just amazes me. The originality of their songs, both original, and redone blues classics is just right.

It always makes me think about a band I was in back during the '70s. Steve White and Country Sunshine. Steve and I had been playing together for sometime in the clubs around Ventura county California. I had put together a band at The Ponderosa in Camarillo. I ran through a bunch of guitar players ranging frome Buck Page, the founder of the Original Riders of The Purple Sage, to a fine young man named Jon Kurnick, who went on to be a very good session player in LA. Phil King was the Bass player.

Steve is one of the best steel guitar players in the world. (no kidding) and an excellent guitar player. He came to me one night and asked me to go on tour with him, and Dale Honsinger, who was probably the best Bass player I ever had the pleasure of working with, and front his band.
So we lumped into Steve's Ford sedan, pulling a little U-Haul trailer. We opened in Salt Lake City and the band just came together. Steve and Dale had worked together, and Steve and I had as well, so we knew what were about. The first night was a little rough, but we came together by the end of the night. The second night we gelled.
We moved on to Wyoming, and played several two week stands in clubs throughout the state. Our first gig was at the Flame Lounge in Sheridan for New Year's Eve. When we left Oxnard, it was 60 degrees and raining. It was cold on the trip, but I didn't think much of it. But that night, at two am New Years Day, we walked out of the club after a successful night. I was laughing, and as the door closed behind me, I took a big lungful of air, and thought I was going to die. It was 40 degrees below zero! My first taste of a north country winter.

We played Kemmerer, then went on to Riverton for a two week gig at Al's Gaslight, that turned into six weeks. We were playing six nights a week, doing a little rehearsal, and living together in a motel across the street. And man, that band got tight. We were monsters! Fast, fancy and together.

We taped our shows every night and critiqued them after the show. Unfortunately, all those tapes are gone. Most of them got taped over the next night. They were work tools, not stuff to keep. A big mistake. I think we were every bit as good as those above mentioned Dominoes. Our western Swing swung. Our barroom music (Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, etc. would have made those guys proud. The last two sets were just about pure rock and roll. Lifting the roof off the building, and filling the dance floor. We left that bar in a full sweat night after night. The best band I ever worked with. Three young men at the peak of our creative and artistic careers. Of course we all kwent on to play, record, and have fun on bandstands and recording studios across the nation, but I don't think any group we were eve in was a good as that bunch of crazy, intense, dedicated musicians.
I got a chance to work with Steve and Dale again at an afternoon gig they had at the VFW in Simi Valley. We were good as ever, even though we had not played together in 40 years. I am forever grateful for that day. Dale is gone now, and Steve is in Missouri, while I live in Montana. But you know what, If the esteemed Mr White were to offer me a chance to do another road gig, I'd be across the state line before the dust settled on my driveway.

Politics

 

A friend asked me if I would support Donald Trump in the next election. This was my answer to him.

I will not vote for Trump.  As a die hard, card carrying Libertarian, my allegiance lies elsewhere. 

That being said, I am an admirer of Mr. Trump.  He is a great salesman, and a fine administrator.  He has one problem. His mouth.  He doesn't know when to shut up.

I guess if you are one of the richest men in the world, you can pretty much say whatever, and whenever you want.  It is that lack of filter on his larynx that has caused his greatest ally, the press, to become his worst enemy. 

The truth is, the media and their love affair with this brash, very rich man, got him elected. You couldn't turn on a radio or television newscast without hearing his name, and seeing his face; and the stories were non derogatory.

Then, on his very first press conference, he chose them off, calling them liars. This of course incensed them, and they turned against them. The Democratic party, which already hated and feared him, used that to their advantage.

I don't think there is a thing he can do to turn that around. Perhaps if he were to buy the Associated Press, and find some way to control them, he might have a chance.

Millions of people admire him, and will vote for him, but the very powerful, and deeply rooted left wing Democrats,  Socialists, and Communists will move heaven and earth to discredit him in every way possible. They will ruin him financially, destroy his family, and even go so far as to assassinate him. 

If somehow he does get elected, I don't think he will be able to roll enough heads, and he will, to make any great difference.  The Republicans hate him, because he won't toe the party line. They will be complicit, as I believe they are now, in very devious schemes to undermine him. Even the FBI is against him.

I don't think Mr Trump has a chance of being elected, or being an effective president.

We Are No Longer At War

 September 3 2021

“Since the start of U.S. military operations through to April this year, 2,448 American service members have been killed in Afghanistan, according to data from Linda Bilmes of Harvard University's Kennedy School and the Brown University Costs of War project, as reported by the Associated Press. An additional 3,846 U.S. contractors also lost their lives.”
Newsweek Fri, Sep 03, 2021

We lost 12 warriors last week during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is a tragedy.  But... Those are the last men lost in a failed invasion of a sovereign nation.
That seems to be the only thing that is carried on the news lately, even eclipsing the Corona virus stories. The question is, where was the outrage when 2,448 service members, ans 3,846 contractors lost theirs?

Now even the left wing news sources are blaming President Biden for their loss. Don’t get me wrong, I am no fan of Biden, but he didn’t do it.  What he did do, was order us out of Afghanistan. The fault lies directly at the door of The Pentagon.  When the military commanders were given the order to evacuate, they dropped the ball. They didn’t remove all of our military hardware, buildings, etc. Instead, they pulled Afghans out, then our troops, and left trillions of dollars of resources to the Taliban.

The Taliban, of course made a show of bombing our people during the rout. They are the victors, and had to show that they drove out the Americans, and defeated us. Which, they did.

Thousands of Afghans will now be killed, enslaved, and degraded; just as they were 20 years ago. That is sad, but it is what it is. Thousands of Christians will be murdered, Martyred, if you please. Thousands of liberated, women will go back to being slaves and chattels. The Heroin trade will continue, as will the trade in hashish.

We lost.

But... We are out. We are no longer losing our best and bravest young men and women.  We are no longer spending trillions of dollars in a war that has bankrupted our nation. No more mothers crying over the deaths of their babies.  No more widows and orphans suffering because their husbands and fathers are no longer here to support and care for them.

Our government has fallen from within to the socialists. They need those trillions of dollars to advance their cause, and they will usse them for just that.

But we are no longer at war! Praise God.

Lee Akers
Kinsey Montana
9-3-21

Afghanistan Withdrawal

 8-16-2021

So we're pulling out of Afghanistan. Good. No more of our bravest and best will die in an unwinnable war. We had no business there in the first place.

It was supposedly to root out Osama Ben Laden. Problem is, the CIA knew he wasn't there the whole time. Then it was supposedly to conquer the Taliban. Couldn't be done. We would have had to wipe out most of the population to do so.

So now, the Taliban is back in control and the people of Afghanistan are in worse shape than before.

The opium crop still prospers. I think the CIA made a pretty good deal with the Taliban.

Of course the military industrial complex will suffer, but it will surely find a new place to make a profit over the blood and bones of our fighting men.

I am not denigrating our troops. they went and did what they were told to do. We the people were told they were there for American freedom. Not so, America was never in danger from the Taliban. What they were fighting for was money flowing into the pockets of politicians and the manufacturers of military hardware.

I for one, welcome them home.

ZEN

 

I have been a practitioner of Zen for many years. Zen, while it is a form of Buddhism, has in it's essence, nothing to do with religion. It is the the ability to achieve “oneness”. That is, the ability to become one with whatever you are doing. In the religious sense, to achieve oneness with God. As a devout practicing Christian, I do not subscrice to the religious part of Zen.

 When I am doing anything, I have the ability to put all of myself into it.
When I am making radio commercials, I completely involve myself in the project. There are no outside thoughts to distract me. I use the words to involve the listener and make him want to buy the product. At that time, there is no other thing going on in me. There is no self, there is only the project. 

It is the same with playing drums. There are no drums, there is no me, there is only the sound. I do not create it, I am a part of it. 

Consider a young child. A baby, discovering a new toy. He is completely absorbed in it the look, the touch, the taste, everything about it. He is in a state of Zen.

When I go to a movie, I almost never read reviews first. I sit down close to the screen. Fifth row, center. That way, I am completely surrounded by the story.

I write this bit of weirdness, perhaps as a way of trying to explain who, and how I am, and perhaps might provide a key to open the door to who you are.

I found it interesting to open that door, as it was like a mental Pandora's box. But by focusing, I was able to largely control the turmoil released.

It is the only way I am able to control, and live with the curse of an IQ that has now declined to the 186 range.

Lee Akers

04-10-2021

GLOOM AND DOOM

 

I have recently seen rioting going on in Washington DC, by what are really dupes of the international Communist conspiracy.   

This is what Hitler did, this is what Lenin did, this is what Idi Amin did. They all took it from Lenin's playbook. Unless there is a concerted effort from the government, the Communists will win, and with the new administration, that won't happen.

    As you know, I have written for years warning that this will happen. I have written that if there is a revolution, the government will put it down with extreme prejudice. Extreme Prejudice. Did you know that at the battle of Gettysburg, there were more deaths than in the entire Viet Nam war?  That kind of extreme prejudice?

    If indeed a revolution starts,under the Biden/Harris regime, that's exactly what will happen.. They will close the churches and kill the preachers, then they will close the schools and kill the teachers. what the Left wing professors can't understand, is they will be the first to go. When the schools and universities reopen, the teachers will be a whole new crop of thoroughly indoctrinated professors teaching the party line, with no deviation.  Meanwhile, while they are putting sown the revolution, they will do away with the constitution, and replace all of the right wing legislators. 

    These are not new ideas, they have happened before, and because they have happened before, and succeed, the Communists will do it again.  This time they will have more trouble, because the populace is well armed. But remember too, that the Communists sympathizers, are well armed too.  No matter how it comes out, and the communists will win, because they have the military, there will be a blood bath.

    It is my thought that our enemies around the world will band together, and invade. We will have pulled our troops out of the places around the world where they are now, and those who hate America will invade, and because the current administration, which has been supporting them all along, will allow them the foothold, and then things will really go bad for the USA.

    I don't like to spread doom and gloom, but I';m afraid that is what will happen, and how it will be.

Lee Akers

Kinsey MT

11-28-2020

Politics and other BS.

So I'm watching the election results Mr. Trump looks like he has lost, but he is hanging on 'till the very end.  That's what winners do, even when they're losing.  

    I admire Trump. He is a successful businessman, and so far as I can see, is a man of his word. Mr Biden is the perennial candidate.  He has run for the presidency several times, and lost.  Now, he seems to have won all the marbles.
     do not belong to either of the major political parties, and didn't vote for either Trump nor Biden. so I have no skin in the game, other than the outcome of the election will affect, not only the election and the world.

  Seems like the Democrat machine has pulled out all the stops, and has won the game. It will be pretty close to a tie in the electoral vote. If nothing else, it's interesting to watch.

    I am hearing the word "democracy" being used a lot by the left.  In truth, democracy, and pure communism are the same thing, in that they both operate on the total consensuses of the people. It is a noble thought, but in reality, it doesn't work. 

    The system is always promoted by, and taken over by an authoritative leader, and the dream vanishes. I cannot think of any country where that has not happened. Problem is, the leader usually turns into a despot. The Roman Caesars, most European kings, Hitler Mao, Pol Pot, Edie Amin,  and an just about any others that  you can name. If that leader is not despotic, his successor usually is.

    I am thinking that this is about to happen. This time it is not Colonel So and So, it will be the new president, or his second in command.

    If Trump manages to squeak out a victory, it will be a while before that happens, I don't think the Republicans have the powerful machine with a razor sharp propaganda arm to accomplish that end.  In any case, In the words of the once popular song, I'll tip my hat to the new constitution. Take a bow for the new revolution. Smile and grin at the change all around. Pick up my guitar and play. Just like yesterday. Then I'll get on my knees and pray. We don't get fooled again. 

    I don't mean to be negative, as I am primarily a positive person. These are my thoughts on the coming administration.

Lee Akers

11/13/2020