My recent plumbing adventure was the least of my problems (see previous posts).
I've decided to take another (brief?) hiatus from the Land of Blog, due to overwhelming circumstances. No need to elaborate - except to say that my ruthless life is never dull.
No need to worry about me (I know that a few of you do). If I ever woke up to a day without problems and extraordinary stress I'd probably drop dead from the shock. I was born to suffer.
In the meantime - - I'm offering a musical interlude - a video that I've previously posted on this blog.
One of my all-time favorite songs (especially when it's sung by Jane Olivor). Lalena (pronounced Lalaynia).
This song was a standard that I used to play long ago, during my late-night piano stints in smokey bars and clubs in Hollywood and around L.A.
It brings back bittersweet memories of romance and the delicious illusion of my reckless youth....
We're going back in time, to the quasi-halcyonic regions of my youth.
It's after midnight on a warm, balmy summer night in Southern California - where a gentle breath of moisture has drifted in from the ocean and apathetic palm trees glisten in moon-glided droplets of dew.
The little piano bar on Fairfax in West Hollywood is a yawning haven for restless night owls, who languish over drinks in a smokey room drenched in soft amber light and the anonymous shadows of dreams and possibilities...
....and I - accompanied by occasional cigarettes and a generous glass of Sangria - sit at the piano and let my fingers wander through melancholy melodies and unintended improvisations.
One of my favorite songs of my youthful piano bar repertoire was Lalena (pronounced la-lane-ya). It was written and originally performed by Donovan (Donovan Philips Leitch) in 1968. There were numerous subsequent versions, including popular ones by Deep Purple and Jane Olivor. In my opinion, Olivor's version is superb - by far the best - no one can surpass it.
I had always wondered about the origin of Lalena and what Donovan's intention was in writing it. I only recently found out.
Lotte Lenya
The song was initially inspired by the German actress/singer Lotte Lenya (1898-1981). Donovan was especially intrigued when he saw the 1931 film The Threepenny Opera - in which Lotte Lenya plays the role of a prostitute named Jenny Diver.
The name Lalena is derived from Lotte Lenya's name , and is (in Donovan's words) "a composite character of women who are outcasts on the edge of society: Bohemia".
I'm including a recording of my piano arrangement of Lalena, just as I used to play it long ago.
Also, here's a "video" of Jane Olivor singing Lalena (this isn't my video - I got it from YouTube).
