Acts of Love . . . Carl's and Mine

You may recall that for my birthday last month I shared the late, great Carl Anderson's song "Love Is," the closing track from his 1988 album An Act of Love.

In doing so I noted that I've been collecting the recordings of Carl Anderson since April of this year, which is when I saw NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, a staged concert performance of the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

In this concert Brandon Victor Dixon played Judas Iscariot, a role that I think most would agree remains owned by Carl Anderson – even now, 14 years after his death from leukemia in 2004. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Carl powerfully and heartbreakingly immortalized a very nuanced, very human portrayal of Judas in numerous stage and touring productions of Jesus Christ Superstar over many years (left) and in the 1973 film version of the rock opera (below).

I first saw the 1973 film adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar some time around 1980 (the same time that Carl was launching his solo music career). Musically and visually the movie left a lasting impression. Soon after, the film's soundtrack album became a fixture of my teenage years, though how exactly this came about I can't recall. It may even have been me who was responsible! Yet even before that time I was well familiar with "Superstar," perhaps the album's most controversial track. Sung by Carl, it was often played on Australian radio in the early-mid 1970s. I thus heard Carl's voice at a very impressionable age. Little wonder, then, that I continue to find it so compelling. Indeed, vocally and lyrically, Carl's music embodies the qualities that I've come to understand and appreciate about myself as an adult (queer) man: passion, sensuality, and (particularly in the case of "Superstar") the willingness to question the seemingly unquestionable.


An accomplished song stylist

NBC's April broadcast of Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert brought to mind Carl's definitive portrayal of Judas, something I'd actually already highlighted here at The Wild Reed. This in turn compelled me to look deeper into the life and career of Carl Anderson.

I soon discovered that for over three decades following his meteoric rise to fame with Jesus Christ Superstar, Carl was an accomplished and well-respected song stylist, artfully blending jazz, soul, pop, and R&B influences into his own unique and unforgettable style. He released nine albums between 1982 and 1996. In addition, Carl made memorable duets with other artists and provided solo guest vocals on a number of songs by others. Artists he worked with included Weather Report, Nancy Wilson, The Rippingtons, Richard Elliot, Michael Paulo, Maynard Ferguson, Gerald McCauley, Eric Marienthal, Brenda Russell, and Linda Eder.

Above: Carl Anderson and Gloria Loring performing their hit single "Friends and Lovers" at a concert in 1986. (To view clips of this and other live performances of Carl, click here.)

Yet for reasons that are frustratingly elusive, many of Carl's best recordings remain unknown to the general public. His most popular song is his duet with singer-actress Gloria Loring, "Friends and Lovers" (above), which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1986.

I actually have a dream of curating a box set of Carl's recordings, something similar to what was recently done for singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry (left). I've even began compiling the track list and visualizing the overall layout of this project, including the images of Carl that I envision this box set featuring. I think of it as my "act of love" for Carl and his memory and musical legacy.

Falling All Over Again

I share all of this as a way to introduce the song by Carl Anderson that I'm sharing for "music night" this evening at The Wild Reed. It's "Falling All Over Again," the lead single from An Act of Love, the one-off album that Carl recorded with Polydor Records on the PolyGram label in 1988.

The fact that Carl only recorded one album with this now defunct label may account for it being the only one of his albums unavailable on CD.

I recently purchased the album on LP format . . . with a couple of bonus features. Specifically, the album came with a large color photo of Carl (left) and a media release from PolyGram clearly designed to promote both Carl and his new album.

As far as I know, this media release has never been published online. So my sharing of it here at The Wild Reed (along with some added images and links) is a first for my blog.

You can read PolyGram's media release for Carl Anderson's An Act of Love after the audio of the album's lead single, "Falling All Over Again."

Be sure to enjoy both!

I'm falling all over again
Back into your arms I descend
Just like it was all brand new
I'm falling in love with you

Look at how far we've come
Our love is forever young
Remember when we first met
I'll never forget just how good it feels to be

Falling all over
Falling all over again
Falling in love with my very best friend
Now and forever this love will never end
I'm falling all over again

We're falling all over again
Watching the world as it spins
Taking us through our lives
Holding the hands of time

Look at how far we've come
And our love is forever young
Remember when we first met
I'll never forget just how good it feels to be

Falling all over
Falling all over again
Falling in love with my very best friend
Now and forever this love will never end
Falling again . . . and again
Falling in love again

Falling in love again
I don't need no . . .
I don't need nobody else
Ooh, Just you
Just you
Do you remember
When you and me held hands and walked
Under the moon and under the stars
And how we made love

Ooh, just you and me
This time, this time
This time it's gonna get better
'Cause we're falling in love
Falling all over again and again and again

You and me
All I want and all I need
Is for you to hold me
Tell me that you need me
And I will comfort you
Comfort you when you want me to

______________________

It all began as an act of love.

In a distant past a Lynchburg, Virginia high school choir director singled out a teenaged Carl Anderson and discovered the beauty and power of his vocal instrument. After putting a first band together after graduation just to pay the rent, Anderson's singing – and later, acting – became his career: he was the electrifying Broadway and film Judas of Jesus Christ Superstar; assorted street toughs in Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files, et al episodes; the love interest in Hotel . . . Emmy Award winner, Grammy, NAACP Image Award and Hollywood Globe nominee; the unexpected singing star of Days of Our Lives; a top-selling artist on both U.S. and U.K. charts; and respected as one of the premiere vocal talents of our time. His versatile voice has already graced four solo albums and made appearances on work by Stevie Wonder, Weather Report, Nancy Wilson, and Maynard Ferguson.

Yet until now, Anderson has never made the album that defined his talents – or anything that could confidently say aired some emotional truths. Perhaps nothing in the past few years has truly been throughout an act of love.

"Truth makes the best kind of music, and this is the first time I've done the right kind of record for me," the singer says of his Polydor/PolyGram debut album. "These songs are a monument to my relationship with my wife – the joys, the sorrows, the agony, and the ecstasy. I have seen my marriage fall apart and luckily, I have been able to pick up the pieces again. Doing this album has allowed me to sing about those things."

Above: Carl and his wife Kathleen (Kay) McGhee in 1979. This lovely photo was taken by Carl and Kay's Los Angeles neighbor at the time, Alexis Kasperavičius.

Above: Carl and his son Khalil McGhee-Anderson in the mid-1990s.

Al McKay (formerly of Earth, Wind & Fire), La La, Terry Marshall, and the singer share producer credits; while the sound is goose-bumpy clean, their efforts have resulted in a sensitive work reminiscent of Marvin Gaye's emotional throwdowns – only this time the family has their say. Anderson and his son Khalil exchange sentiments on "More Than You'll Ever Know"; his wife Kay shares vows on "Love Is (The Love Song)," the album's final statement. Anderson addresses doubt and hurt with the majestic "Stop Along the Way," while the upbeat "Baby, You Just Don't Know" and "Falling All Over Again" (the LP's first single) speak of love's renewal. Anderson says, "I'm asking a few questions here: 'Are you willing to look a little deeper? Are you ready for love more than once – and maybe with the same person?' The energy here comes from the message, not just from the beat."

An Act of Love is also stylistically varied, stemming from Anderson's well-rounded musical training. Perhaps best known as a ballad singer – after all, Quincy Jones called him "the best male ballad singer alive" – the Virginia native sang opera, show tunes, and spirituals in school, then first played live in a Washington, D.C. area rock band. He fancied himself a jazz singer, and the band made a decent living covering Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago while throwing in a few originals. "We all lived together on a farm out in the country, he recalls, "doing gigs whenever the rent was due."

Fate stepped in when a friend who worked in a local record store gave Anderson a copy of the then-popular album Jesus Christ Superstar. "It didn't mean a thing to me because The Who had already done rock opera." When he finally listened to it, Anderson saw a vision of himself on Broadway playing the part of Judas. "I'm not exaggerating, it was like yesterday," he says. The band put together a 45-minute medley from the album, performing it at a club in Georgetown. They were invited by a local minister to repeat the set in his church on Palm Sunday, which created a controversy covered by the national media. Television reports on the Today show brought Anderson to the attention of the casting people from the Broadway production, and his dream came true. Anderson was Judas in New York, on the road, and on screen for the next three-and-a-half years.

Above and below: Carl Anderson as Judas in Norman Jewison’s 1973 film version of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice’s “rock opera,” Jesus Christ Superstar.

Above and below: Carl Anderson performing "Superstar" from Jesus Christ Superstar on a Spanish TV variety show in 1974. (To see the entire video, click here.)

Following that, he won an Emmy for his performance in the PBS production Onstage L.A., and then Anderson launched an acting career. Standard TV-cop fare and soap opera appearances paid the bills and, except for a minor role in his friend Stevie Wonder's epic Songs In the Key of Life, Anderson put singing on the back burner for nearly seven years.

During an appearance in the L.A. stage production Zen Boogie, Anderson decided it was time to let his voice be heard again."It was from the dialogue of acting that I learned the importance of a lyric," he notes. Anderson signed with Epic Records in 1981, recording four albums for the label while continuing to act in Days of Our Lives and Hotel. One song, "Buttercup" (written by Stevie Wonder), became a No. 1 U.K. dance hit in 1985 [left].

In 1986, Anderson performed "Friends and Lovers" on Days of Our Lives with actress Gloria Loring. Requests for the record put it on the charts, and by the fall the duo had one of the biggest songs of the year. (It reached No. 2 and stayed there for two weeks.) The LP which resulted was a patchwork effort, however, and Anderson left Epic for PolyGram.

"I've had many different experiences, I've sung many songs and felt many things. That's all part of me now, it has all gone into the record. I'm grateful to have had this opportunity with the people and the music I love most."

– PolyGram Media Release
June 1988

__________________________

So what happened to Carl and his career after his one-off album with Polydor/PolyGram?

Well, sadly (and I purposely use this word given all the inspiring and hope-filled things Carl is quoted as saying in the press release) his marriage to Kay ended shortly after the release of An Act of Love. In 1992 he married Veronica Porsche, the former wife of Muhammad Ali.

From 1990 to 1996 Carl recorded three albums with GRP Records, a jazz label founded in 1978 by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen. All three albums – Pieces Of a Heart (1990), Fantasy Hotel (1992), and Heavy Weather/Sunlight Again (1994) – are exceptional recordings and readily available to purchase online.

In 1996, Carl released a live concert album, Why We Are Here!, under the Abu Khalil label, Carl's own production company named after his son. The album was recorded at the Agape International Spiritual Center, of which Carl was a member.

Shortly after Carl's death in 2004, the center released a collection of live recordings of Carl's performances at Agape. According to the album's liner notes, they were songs "especially dear to Carl's heart" and include "You'll Never Walk Alone," Rolling River God," "You Anointed Me," "Inner Visions," "I Am the Rock," and "I'm Ready to Listen." The album itself was entitled Carl Anderson: Superstar – The Love of Song, the Love of Music. I was fortunate enough to secure a copy of this album on CD format before it recently disappeared from the music section of Agape's store website. (It appears to be archived, however, here. If you're interested in purchasing it, I suggest you call the Agape Store at 310- 348-1266. That's how I ordered it.)

I'll close by sharing the following excerpt from Karyl Lynn Burns' description of Carl Anderson's memorial service at the Agape Spiritual Center on February 28, 2004.

One of the things I was so touched by was how often many people said that Carl had "a good death," that his death was like his life, and that he had great dignity in his passing; that he was compassionate and concerned for others even until the end. The pastor said, "We know that birth is not the beginning and death is not the end." I believe that, too.

Yes, right to the end, Carl Anderson remained open to embodying acts of love. It wasn't just his voice that was beautiful and powerful; so too was his soul. The two, of course, merged; his music was, after all, incredibly soulful. As such, it inspires me in many ways, including to manifest and embody soulful acts of love on every step of my journey, at every stage of my life. Thank you, Carl!

For more of Carl Anderson at The Wild Reed, see:
• Revisiting a Groovy Jesus (and a Dysfunctional Theology)
• Carl Anderson
• Carl Anderson: "One of the Most Enjoyable Male Vocalists of His Era"
• With Love Inside

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Andrew Harvey on Radical, Divine Passion in Action
• Move Us, Loving God
• Jesus: Our Guide in Mystical Love in Action
• Prayer of the Week – April 26, 2010
• The Choice (and Risk) That Is Love
• Love as "Quest and Daring and Growth"

Finn's View of November's "Deepening Cold"

True, it's not actually winter yet . . . but it sure does look and feel like it today here in Minnesota.

Noted Star Tribune meteorologist Paul Douglas earlier today:

November and December are the darkest months; deepening cold accompanied by unusually gray and cloudy days. A double-shot of gloom for most. Ironically, January tends to be colder, but sunnier, as dry Canadian air finally sweeps away the crud.

Last night's clipper left behind a residue of snow and ice – leave extra time for the morning commute. This early cold wave lingers into early next week, with temperatures 15-20F colder than average.

Yeah, Finn's face says it all.

Related Off-site Links:
Light Snow Showers at Times, Windy and Cold; Chilly Weekend – Ron Trenda (Minnesota Public Radio News, November 9, 2018).
November: Historically Dark, Cold and Slippery – Paul Douglas (Star Tribune, November 8, 2018).

Images: Michael J. Bayly.

For more images of Finn, see:
• Out and About – Summer 2018

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Winter's Return
• First Snowfall

Quote of the Day

The electoral victories that broke the Republican hold on the House of Representatives last night have pierced the perceptions of Trumpism as all-powerful and impenetrable. These victories include not only those in the House itself, but also all kinds of progressive referenda, wins for left candidates in state races, and most dramatically, the restoration of voting rights for (most of) the formerly incarcerated in Florida. There were significant victories in the Midwest, where Trump secured his electoral outcome in 2016. The demise of two troglodyte governors – Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Bruce Rauner in Illinois – is also welcome. These are important repudiations of the white supremacy emanating from the White House. They are also a confirmation of the audience that exists for actual left politics, not watered-down centrism.

For some of the Democrats running for re-election in the Senate and elsewhere, we now have tangible proof that you can’t beat neo-Confederate, white nationalism with mealy-mouthed, middle-of-the road appeals to civility and good governance. Conservative and centrist Democrats found that many voters won’t waste their time with cheap knockoffs. The only chance we have to bury the Trump nightmare is a radical political agenda that provides an actual and real alternative to the status quo.

The massive increase in voter turnout is a testament to the power of real progressive policy advocacy. The progressive current within the Democratic Party did not just run against Trump – candidates ran on Medicare for all, the abolition of ICE, and other political issues seen as progressive and not just maintenance of the status quo. It was the motivating factor that was missing in the 2016 presidential campaign that got people to stand in lines for hours in poor conditions.

Where these politics failed to win – most spectacularly in Florida with the defeat of gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and possibly in Georgia, where gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has declined to concede, hoping for a recount – the naked racism, voter intimidation, voter suppression and outright theft should not be underestimated.

– Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Excerpted from "To End the Trump Nightmare,
We Need a Radical Political Agenda"
TruthOut
November 7, 2018

Related Off-site Links:
Democrats Win Control of the House, Ending Unified G.O.P. Rule of Washington – Deirdre Shesgreen, Eliza Collins and Nicole Gaudiano (USA Today, November 6, 2018).
The Democratic Victories of 2018 Feel Mediocre. They Aren’t – Jim Newell (Slate, November 7, 2018).
A List Of Firsts For Women In This Year's Midterm Elections – Danielle Kurtzleben (NPR News, November 7, 2018).
We’re Finally Going to Have Native American Women in Congress – Jennifer Bendery (The Huffington Post, November 6, 2018).
LGBTQ Candidates Record Historic Midterm Wins In Rainbow Wave – Dominique Mosbergen (The Huffington Post, November 7, 2018).
The Midterm Results Gave Everybody Just Enough to Keep Fighting – Ryan Grim (The Intercept, November 7, 2018).
Democrats Have Moved Significantly to the Left Since 2010, New Study Finds – Aída Chávez (The Intercept, November 6, 2018).
12 People Who Made History in the 2018 Elections – Amanda Terkel (The Huffington Post, November 7, 2018).
Midterm Takeaway: We Need a Lot More Democracy – Peter Certo (Common Dreams, November 7, 2018).
The Midterms Milestones You Might Have Missed – Katherine Gillespie (Paper, November 7, 2018).
2018 Midterms: Blue Wave, Red Undertow – Robert Borosage (Campaign for America's Future via Common Dreams, November 7, 2018).

UPDATES: Democrats Got Millions More Votes – So How Did Republicans Win the Senate? – Sabrina Siddiqui (The Guardian, November 8, 2018).
Trump Faces Four Investigations After Democrats Win the House – Martin Cizmar (Salon, November 8, 2018).
Why Medicare-for-All Is Looking Better and Better After the Midterms – Jeff Spross (The Week, November 8, 2018).
Billionaires, Not Voters, Are Deciding Elections – Sonali Kolhatkar (TruthDig, November 9, 2018).
You Can't Assume That Moderate Democrats Win Elections – Jim Nauerkas (FAIR, November 9, 2018).
If You Want a Just World, Neither Republicans Nor Democrats Will Give It to You – Sarah van Gelder (Common Dreams, November 9, 2018).
"Just Count the Votes": Where Voter Suppression Not Quite Enough, G.O.P. Now Trying to Stop Ballot-Counting in Multiple States – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, November 9, 2018).
Democrats Who Voted to Deregulate Wall Street Got Wiped Out in a Setback for Bank Lobbyists – David Dayen (The Intercept, November 10, 2018).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• On the Eve of the Midterms, Three Insightful Perspectives on the Voting Process in the U.S.
• Quote of the Day – November 5, 2017
• Hope in the Midst of Collapse

On the Eve of the Midterms, Three Insightful Perspectives on the Voting Process in the U.S.

I try to hold a nuanced view of voting that I think I don’t articulate much.

I don’t believe liberation lies in voting, in electoral politics. Everything is political but not everything is electoral. I think on many of the biggest issues in our country, voting doesn’t make a difference, either because the candidates all basically agree or because there isn’t enough power to achieve anything among the liberatory option if there is one.

Often, my own life won’t be affected by who I vote for. For example, no candidate is going to save me from whatever results of climate change ultimately will affect me. There is no candidate who has a position that can do that. Only movements can create those candidates, at this point, and indeed only movements can create and push candidates who could alleviate the suffering that is to come. Many issues are like this, especially for the ways our country affects those living outside it.

I’m not a vote shamer. I understand why people don’t vote, especially the majority of poor people in our country. They mostly are ignored, few people try to organize them, and it is hard for them to see how anything will be different. Not to mention the systems that constantly try to make it harder for them to vote, especially if they’re not white. I even understand why people vote for third parties. I won’t shame those people.

That said, I vote in every election and I vote for Democrats. I vote in local elections, I caucus, I go to primaries, I’ll do whatever voting is available. I even sometimes find candidates that I am somewhat excited to vote for because of one or more issues, but I vote even if I don’t like any of them much.

There are a lot of other issues. Some of those issues do get a lot of influence from elected officials, whether they be local, state, federal. Even on issues or races where there isn’t what feels like a liberatory option – nobody is proposing police abolition, for example – there is a less bad option. I’m the person who will vote for the less bad option.

I don’t vote only for safe candidates, I try to vote always for what I think is the most liberatory candidate. I listen to people who are affected, especially those who I trust from movement or other powerful spaces, and I try to make the best decision I think is available.

The reason I’ll do that is that there are real people who will be affected in real ways that make life more or less bad for them, sometimes in small and sometimes in big ways. They won’t be liberated by my vote, I know this, but they will be genuinely affected. Real people might live longer, suffer less, be less persecuted, stay with their families longer, be less criminalized, and any number of other things. Those issues won’t go away, probably even for the people affected by them, but they’ll be affected.

That is enough for me. Voting is very easy for me. It’s very easy for me to learn about candidates, talk about them with anyone who wants to, express what I think about them. None of those things take a lot of effort. Nobody has ever asked me for a ride or accompaniment to the polls, but that too would not be hard for me, and the ways that small act of togetherness could help those people who might need such a thing are very large. Those are examples of people who’s lives, often, will be better or worse in very real ways in some issues, even though other issues will likely be the same, by whoever is elected.

So I don’t approach the electoral process with any idealism, or with even a lot of anything resembling hope most of the time. But that’s fine. I don’t need that from the voting process, I have other places to get that. But on the issues where it does make a difference, I believe it’s worthwhile.

Voting is one tactic among many. I don’t think it is the most powerful, the most ethical, or one that I can do with what I think are clean hands. But that’s fine. I believe in using all of the nonviolent tactics that are available to me.

– Jonathan Stegall
via Facebook

I feel the need to offer a friendly reminder that one reason people don't vote is because they recognize that our political system is broken. So to me, all this encouragement to vote is sorta vacuous. Yes, yes, yes, please vote, but remember that the Democratic party, too, has brought you unending war, unlimited corporate power, climate change, health care crisis, etc., etc. They just try to make it a little more dignified and palatable. Just because we now have true evil at the highest levels doesn't mean that lesser evil is now good. We need to make some leaps, not just try to recover lost ground. On November 7, regardless of outcomes, we still need to make change in our hearts and in our minds and in our families and in our communities and in our systems. May it be so.

– Michael Sala
via Facebook

The greatest delusion is the belief that voting is the ONLY power we have as citizens. It's not. It's one tool among the many that we can use on the road to creating a more just and equitable society. The question we must all ask, when we vote, is who can we work with? Who will best listen to us, work with us, work FOR us when we apply pressure, make demands, hold our leaders accountable? It's simply not true to say that it makes no difference who you vote for. Yes, both parties have supported wealthy, powerful interests in the past, taken corporate money, waged wars, invaded and occupied other countries, attacked the weak and the vulnerable. But I have never seen such a stark difference in the two main parties today when it comes to issues that affect us all like reproductive rights, environmental protection, public education, criminal justice reform, protecting the rights of minorities, gay rights, women's rights, on and on. So please don't retreat into cynicism. Vote today and then tomorrow get down to the real work. Too many people have fought and died to win us this right. It would be a shame not to use it.

– Kurt Seaberg
via Facebook

Related Off-site Links:
Why Democracy Will Be the Biggest Loser in the U.S. Midterms – Gary Younge (The Guardian, November 2, 2018).
A Storm of Dirty Tricks and Presidential Racism Mar the 2018 Midterms – William Rivers Pitt (TruthOut, November 3, 2018).
Trump's Racism Can't Win Elections. Gerrymandering and Voter Suppression Can – Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Eddie S. Glaude, Jr (Common Dreams, November 5, 2018).
Republicans Are Working Feverishly to Stop Minorities from Voting – Eoin Higgins (Vice, October 24, 2018).
Judge Rules Against Republican Party, Says More Than 3,000 in Georgia Should Be Allowed to Vote – Christal Hayes (USA Today, November 2, 2018).
Get Ready for the Shake-Up: Grassroots Candidates Drive Midterm Surge – Ruth Conniff (Common Dreams, November 2, 2018).
Midterms 2018: Early Voting by Young People Up 500% in Texas and Georgia – Tom Embury-Dennis (The Independent via Yahoo! News, October 31, 2018).
High Early Voting Turnout Gives Hope to Progressives As Black, Latino, and Young Voters Go to Polls in Record Numbers – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, October 31, 2018).
Black Millennials Have a New Superpower in This Year’s Midterm Election – Chris Scott (Blavity, November 5, 2018).
Democracy Under Siege: Systemic Flaws May Override Record Electoral Participation – Tracy L. Barnett (Common Dreams, November 5, 2018).
New Polls Confirm That Democrats Are Poised to Take the House – Matthew Rozsa Salon (November 4, 2018).
The First Thing Democrats Will Do If They Win the House Is Pass Anti-Corruption and Voting Rights Reforms – Paul Blumenthal (The Huffington Post, October 31, 2018).
However the Midterms Go, the Republican Party Is Going to Get More Extreme – Jonathan Chait (New York Magazine, October 28, 2018).
Business Lobbyists and G.O.P. Operatives Plot to Take Down Wave of Ocasio-Cortez-Style Democratic Socialists in Midterms – Lee Fang and, Nick Surgey (The Intercept, November 5, 2018).
After the Midterms, It’ll Be Mueller Time – Paul Waldman (The Washington Post, October 31, 2018).
Majority in U.S. Still Say a Third Party Is Needed – R.J. Reinhart (Gallop.com, October 26, 2018).
Get Up and Go Vote – Roger Angell (The New Yorker, November 5, 2018).
What If the Polls Are Wrong Again? Four Scenarios for What Might Happen in the Elections – Domenico Montanaro (NPR News, November 5, 2018).
A Furious John Oliver Refuses to Let Family Separation Be Forgotten Ahead of the Midterm Election – Marissa Martinelli (Slate, November 5, 2018).
On Eve of Midterms, Americans Urged to Vote "Like the Planet Depends On It – Because It Does" – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, November 5, 2018).
Here's What to Do If You're Turned Away At the Polls – Christina Maxouris and AJ Willingham (CNN, November 2, 2018).

UPDATES: Voting Problems Surface as Americans Go to the Polls – Danny Hakim, Alan Blinder and Michael Wines (The New York Times, November 6, 2018).
Equipment Malfunctions and Voting Machine Shortages Bring Long Lines in Georgia – Pema Levy (Mother Jones, November 6, 2018).
Voters Turned Away at Detroit Polling Site Due to Missing Voting Machines – Aris Folley (The Hill, November 6, 2018).
As Counties Place Polls in Gated Communities, Florida Voters Are Left Out – Daniel Rivero (WLRN Miami/South Florida, November 6, 2018).
Voters Wait Hours in North Miami, and There Weren’t Enough Ballots for Everyone – Douglas Hanks (Miami Herald, November 5, 2018).
Voter Suppression in North Dakota Could Be Backfiring on Republicans – Ari Berman (Mother Jones, November 6, 2018).
Thirty-Six Million Early Votes Shatter Records for Youth and People of Color – Amy Goodman (Democracy Now! via TruthOut, November 6, 2018).
Under Assault by Trump's GOP and Supreme Court, Unions Lead Massive Get Out the Vote Effort for Midterms – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, November 6, 2018).
Students Across Country Walk Out of Class to Cast Ballots in Midterms – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2018).
First Native American Women Elected to Congress: Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland – Eli Watkins (CNN, November 6, 2018).
Gay Native American Sharice Davids Wins Democratic Primary in Deep-Red Kansas – Meghan Sullivan (NBC News, November 6, 2018).
A Win for Muslims and Democracy: Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar Become First Muslim Women Elected to Congress – Eli Watkins (CNN, November 6, 2018).
Ilhan Omar Again Makes History, Becoming First Somali-American Elected to U.S. House – Erin Golden (Star Tribune, November 7, 2018).
Ayanna Pressley Becomes the First Black Woman to Represent Massachusetts in Congress – Stephen A. Crockett Jr. (The Root, November 6, 2018).
Texas Sends First Two Latinas to Congress – Laura Bassett (The Huffington Post, November 6, 2018).
It's Official: Unabashed Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Now Youngest Woman Ever Elected to Congress – Jon Queally (The Huffington Post, November 6, 2018).
Jared Polis Wins In Colorado, Making Him First Openly Gay Man Elected Governor – Hayley Miller and Lydia O’Connor (The Huffington Post, November 6, 2018).
In Historic Move, Florida Approves Automatically Restoring Voting Rights To Felons – Sam Levine (The Huffington Post, November 6, 2018).
Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s Underdog Senate Bid Falls Short in Texas – Roque Planas (The Huffington Post, November 6, 2018).
Win or lose, Betomania Has Been a Big Victory for Texas Progressives – Amanda Marcotte (Salon, November 6, 2018).
The Silver Lining to Beto O’Rourke’s Loss to Ted Cruz – Jim Newell (Slate, November 6, 2018).
Zach Wahls, Who Defended Lesbian Moms in Viral Speech, Wins Iowa State Senate Seat – Dominique Mosbergen (The Huffington Post, November 7, 2018).
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Concedes to Democratic Challenger – Elizabeth Campbell (Bloomberg, November 7, 2018).
Stacey Abrams Refuses to Concede Georgia Governor's Race, Hoping for Runoff – Veronica Stracqualursi and Devan Cole (CNN, November 7, 2018).
Money Still Rules U.S. Politics: An Interview with Thomas Ferguson – Paul Heideman (Jacobin, November 6, 2018).
It’s Official: Democrats Will Control the House – Ella Nilsen (Vox, November 6, 2018).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Something to Thing About – November 4, 2018
• Quote of the Day – October 17, 2018
• Trump's America: Normalized White Supremacy and a Rising Tide of Racist Violence
• Quote of the Day – February 6, 2018
• A Timely Reminder . . .
• Quote of the Day – June 28, 2017
• Hope in the Midst of Collapse

Opening image: Smartboy10/Getty Images.

Quote of the Day

America is in the middle of an existential crisis, the most significant choices before us not what to do but rather who to be. If we do not solidly realign ourselves with our democratic values – choosing to use the power of government to serve our people rather than to serve a small coterie of corporate forces – then we will remain a democracy in name only.

According to the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, “We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Already, we have transitioned from a government “of the people, by the people and for the people” to a government “of a few of the people, by a few of the people and for a few of the people.” Already we are functioning as a corporatocracy, an oligarchy, a plutocracy as opposed to a democracy. We have sacrificed our basic values of equality and justice for the promise of money and jobs that would trickle down from the perches of power if only we would give the powerful more money, a most dark and pathological game of domination and greed that keeps the battered attached to the batterer. Forces that move literally billions of dollars into the hands of a few then turn around to say that paying $15 an hour to a worker is too much to ask, and universal healthcare too “socialist,” and free education too expensive to provide – all of which add to wealth inequality that is more than a matter of economic statistics. It is an often soul-crushing human reality that keeps millions of Americans trapped and struggling, our middle class decimated and our basic values in shreds. If you can get into the club in America – and I would know this – then there is no greater country in the world. But too many people have no reasonable chance of getting into the club today. And that is an unsustainable situation for all of us.

I read a quote recently that said this: “If we want things to stay the same, then there are going to have to be some changes around here.” So it is with America. Like any individual life that has gone off the rails, America needs to look at itself deeply, return to its principles and open its heart. Then and only then will our nation be repaired.

– Marianne Williamson
via Facebook
November 5, 2018

NEXT: Talkin’ ’Bout An Evolution:
Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Bid


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Marianne Williamson
• Quote of the Day – August 29, 2017
• Quote of the Day – June 28, 2017
• Quote of the Day – May 4, 2017
• Hope in the Midst of Collapse
• Making the Connections
• The War Racket
• Resisting the Hand of the Empire
• In a Blow to Democracy, U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Corporate Personhood

Something to Think About . . .

– Tom Toles

Related Off-site Links:
Warning Trump Making U.S. Soldiers Props in Racist Border 'Stunt,' Veterans Call on Active-Duty Troops to Refuse Orders to Deploy – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, November 1, 2018).
As Midterm Vote Nears, Trump Reprises a Favorite Message: Fear Immigrants – Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis (The New York Times, November 1, 2018).
The Military's Justification for Sending Thousands of Troops to the Border is the Opposite of the Truth – Ryan Devereaux (The Intercept, October 31, 2018).
U.S. Military Begins Sending Equipment to the Southern Border as Migrant Caravan Continues North – Lolita C. Baldor (Associated Press via Time, October 30, 2018).
Stop Saying ‘Migrant Caravan’: They’re Asylum Seekers Escaping a Conflict That the U.S. Created – Kelli Korducki (Yahoo! News, October 24, 2018).
To Be Clear: Seeking Asylum at the Border Is Not Illegal – Archi Pyati (The Hill, November 3, 2018).

A Shared Language

Something special for "music night" this evening at The Wild Reed . . .

It's singer Damiyr Shuford performing the Asaf Avidan composition "Reckoning Song (One Day)" in the New York City subway . . . and joined by a young dancer. What results is a beautiful and spontaneous collaboration.

As is noted elsewhere online about this performance:

Artists speak the same language. So when this die-hard lover of Dance heard this amazing singer speaking his language he had no choice but to communicate back to him in their shared language. The moment his body heard the beat and the vocals all bets were off. The fact is when you love to dance, the moment your ears hear a good beat your body instantly starts to move.

Related Off-site Links:
Damiyr Shuford Is Charting a Path From the Subway to Success – Alex Galbraith (UpRoxx, October 23, 2017).
Before He Could Record His First Album, Damiyr Shuford Had to Let Go – Fidel Martinez (UpRoxx, January 20, 2018).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Not Whether We Dance, But How
• The Purpose of Art
• Art and Resistance
• Quote of the Day – April 6, 2017
• The Premise of All Forms of Dance
• The Art of Dancing as the Supreme Symbol of the Spiritual Life
• The Dancer and the Dance

Previously featured musicians at The Wild Reed:
Dusty Springfield | David Bowie | Kate Bush | Maxwell | Buffy Sainte-Marie | Prince | Frank Ocean | Maria Callas | Loreena McKennitt | Rosanne Cash | Petula Clark | Wendy Matthews | Darren Hayes | Jenny Morris | Gil Scott-Heron | Shirley Bassey | Rufus Wainwright | Kiki Dee | Suede | Marianne Faithfull | Dionne Warwick | Sam Sparro | Wanda Jackson | Engelbert Humperdinck | Pink Floyd | Carl Anderson | The Church | Enrique Iglesias | Yvonne Elliman | Lenny Kravitz | Helen Reddy | Stephen Gately | Judith Durham | Nat King Cole | Emmylou Harris | Bobbie Gentry | Russell Elliot | BØRNS | Hozier | Enigma | Moby (featuring the Banks Brothers) | Cat Stevens | Chrissy Amphlett | Jon Stevens | Nada Surf | Tom Goss (featuring Matt Alber) | Autoheart | Scissor Sisters | Mavis Staples | Claude Chalhoub | Cass Elliot | Duffy | The Cruel Sea | Wall of Voodoo | Loretta Lynn and Jack White | Foo Fighters | 1927 | Kate Ceberano | Tee Set | Joan Baez | Wet, Wet, Wet | Stephen “Tin Tin” Duffy | Fleetwood Mac | Jane Clifton | Australian Crawl | Pet Shop Boys | Marty Rhone | Josef Salvat | Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri | Aquilo | The Breeders | Tony Enos | Tupac Shakur | Nakhane Touré | Al Green | Donald Glover/Childish Gambino | Josh Garrels | Stromae