Dear Flashman, Thanks for reading, and thanks for writing in. When I first arrived at a prestigious New England prep school, the first book they had me read in English class was "Tom Brown's School Days," in which Flashman was a bully. Flashman later was the anti-hero of a series of historical novels. Is your moniker derived from that character? As far as my at-times-Byzantine prose, from time to time I leave a convoluted sentence as-is, rather than Strunking it to death. Such sentences, I think of as "Speed Bumps," the reader's slowing down, to cause. Like the sentence I just wrote. BTW, a friend of mine, upon reading a draft of this essay, commented that there was something of Jack Baruth's style in it, and I took that as a compliment. My guess is that that guy was referring to my Parthian shots directed at Olivia. ciao, john ... View more

Thanks for reading, and thanks for writing in! Responding to your comment about Tiny Tim, I believe that the "Great Divide" in music listening is that some people listen to music very consciously, as the major focus of their attention, while other people listen to music only as an accompaniment to other activities, such as reading knitting, or socializing. I believe that serious listeners are in the minority, and that "convenience" listeners are in the majority. That's the reason some songs, whether "Baby Shark," or "Tiptoe Through the Tulips," break through and become cultural artifacts. As the great orchestral conductor Sir Thomas Beecham observed, "Most people don't really like music; they just like the noise it makes." jm ... View more

By the way, for those whose computers are well past their Recycle-By Date, the original caption for the top photo might not be visible, so, here it is: Members of the band Genesis, circa 1974, with Herb Belkin (second from left). Atlantic Records/ATCO In my tale, Herb represents the "Realpolitik"/Cynical side of the music biz. A fascinating guy... and I do think that he loved music for its own sake, more than he would let on. amb, john ... View more

Oops... Shut my mouth... it was the 504... mea culpa, john ... View more

Thanks for the hearty chuckle! The Peugeot 404, over and above its elegant proportions and massing, also had that motel-room reputation. In the mid-1970s, I often sighed, "Ah; for Brooke Shields, and a Peugeot 404 with a Moonroof!" Kinda sorta an Omar Khayyam thing, I think. amb john ... View more

What a wonderful article, thanks. ... View more

Hi! If you go back and read the first column in this series: https://www.hagerty.com/media/opinion/music-for-your-road/music-for-your-road-no-1-some-jazz-records-i-have-loved/ You will see that I put "Jazz Samba" on the list of 12 jazz records that are personally significant to me, and which I think that people from all walks of life will benefit from becoming acquainted with. Perhaps that is the reasons that I unconsciously neglected to include Mr. Byrd in the list of "So Near Yet So Far" guitarists for whom there was not enough space for on this column. I also want to point out that I don't really think in terms of "greatest" when it comes to music. I don't believe that Beethoven is the "greatest" composer, while I must acknowledge his historical and cultural significance. I don't think that there is any "greatest" composer. Only personal favorites, arrived at one way or another. I tend not to write about "Household Name" cultural figures. I'd rather spend my time letting people know about undiscovered treasures. I don't put Mr. Byrd in the category of Household Name; but, I did give him his due, to the extent I could, in my first Hagerty Media column. I do think that Byrd is that important; so, to that extent, I do agree with you. ciao, john ... View more

Thanks for the suggestion. I am pretty sure, though, that "kills them all" is a bit of an overstatement. At least in part because of the "Apples vs. Pomegranates" aspect of the futility of trying to compare a live Blues album, which by its very nature contains an element of improvisation, with a classical recording in which the focus is on interpretation rather than improvisation. BTW, I find that Qobuz' auto-suggest function almost always has a very worthwhile album I was previously unaware of. At the moment, I am listening to the Keeshea Pratt Band's "Believe." Very much in the BB King groove! jm ... View more

Absolvo te. BTW, Jack did not write that column or any of the others; he just asked me to do so and he pays me for my work. I'm John; Pleased to Meet You!!! BTW! Seeing as I was in the last class of Altar Boy prospects who were taught the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, I want to make sure that everybody knows that there are two famous car-maker names that are Latin, or Latin-based. A hint--"Ford" ain't one of them. (I heard Gaelic spoken when I was a child, but none of it stuck. Though I doubt that Ford's Irish ancestors spoke Gaelic.) #1: VOLVO. Volvo's parent company made industrial bearings; so, that punsical name means "I Roll" in Latin. As in, "Revolve." #2: AUDI. Like many early car entrepreneurs, August Horch had a checkered corporate history. (E.g., Henry Ford's first car company ended up making cars called Cadillac.) Horch fell out with his business partners, but they retained the trademark based on his name. So Horch, whose family name is related to "to hear," by way of "Harken!," decided to name his new company "Audi," as a close-enough Latin equivalent. As in "Auditorium." Ciao, jm ... View more

My educated guess is, that the best combination of music and recording quality plus eBay affordability is this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/402802142963 Best of luck, john ... View more

Mea culpa; sed non mea maxima culpa est. JM (Fakin' that Latin, since 1963. Jack B.: Feel free to correct me publicly.) ... View more

Dear Jack, Your Ferrari 250GTO witticism made me think of the analogous saying from the collector-violin world: Antonio Stradivari made approximately 600 violins, of which, 1200 remain. I actually played a genuine certified "A., S., and O. Stradivari" once, briefly and long ago. It was one of the six violins he was working on in parallel, when he croaked at his workbench, aged 92. His sons completed them. The analogy I have always used for that experience--I was faking my way through the second movement of Sibelius' violin concerto--was that I had gotten out of an Olds Cutlass Station Wagon and into an Indianapolis car, which I was totally unprepared to drive. In my hands, that 1737 Stradivarius produced a few "Dying Peacock" squawks, before I adjusted my bowing pressure. Astonishing responsiveness and tone. A priceless memory. Great article, thanks. john marks ... View more

Hi, Thanks for reading, and thanks for writing in. FWIW, Wiki dates the Hank Garland/Elvis collaborations from 1958: Garland is perhaps best known for his Nashville studio work with Elvis Presley from 1958 to 1961 which produced such rock hits as: "I Need Your Love Tonight", "A Big Hunk o' Love", " I'm Coming Home", "I Got Stung", "A Fool Such As I", "Stuck on You", "Little Sister", "(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame", and "I Feel So Bad". # # # Again, thanks for reading--Part 2 is on the way! john marks ... View more

Wow. Um, Somewhere, perhaps in Heaven, Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named 'Desire'; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), is doffing his hat, in respect. Well done. ... View more

Dear Jack... You keep winning! "Kill the body... kill the soul." But, I already knew that you were Scripturally Literate. For decades, I have been toying with the idea of reclaiming my purported paternal-ancestral name of "von Marx." For at least three reasons. (1) So people can hate me for being an aristrocrat. (2) So people can hate me for having the same family name of--but superior social rank to--that dude who CO-invented Commieism. Or (3) So they can hate me for being just as I am. (There's a hymn-title reference buried in there.) BTW, in those Lost Decades when I successfully impersonated a Trial Lawyer, I was involved in some pretty heady GATT (General Agreements on Tarriffs and Trade) litigations. I chatted with specialists; I retained a former US Trade Representative as an Expert Witness; and I heard some great gossip. (I also helped that lying sack of plant food Alan Dershowitz get a new criminal trial for Claus von Bülow; but I am sure that you already knew that.) ANYWAY, the laugh-out loud FUNNIEST GATT "anti-dumping" story I ever heard, was the claim that upon the release of the Lexus, which had undercut the price of the equivalent MBZ by circa $10,000, MBZ USA bought one, tore it apart, and made a meticulous parts-and-labor cost analysis to prove that the Lexus REALLY cost as much as the Mercedes. They hired a law firm and they asked the Mothership for permission to file suit in Federal Court. I have always hoped that it all was a "False Flag Operation" dictated from Tokyo, but the Germans must have screamed "ARE YOU CRAZY???" so loud that no telephone was needed. Yeah, had that lawsuit been filed, Toyota only needed to buy one full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal. One of my mantras, learned over the course of more than 20 years as a trial lawyer, is "Never ascribe to Conspiracy, that which can completely explained by Stupidity." BTW, Jack, has Genesis had an actual bounce in SUV sales, as distinct from Internet searches? Ciao, john ... View more

Awww... thanks! john ... View more

Wow, Jack. Great thoughts. And here I am counting down the days until the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in the Year of the Lord 2038, for my two-year old. My joke is that I am a very liberal parent; she can be whatever kind of an Opera Singer she wants to be! On the subject of spark plugs: Moi aussi. The #1 spark plug on my Citroen DS21 was under the dashboard to the extent that there was a little pull-out plug on the dash, and a special snakey socket-wrench extension to change that plug. amb, john ... View more

I love the early 911! Whatever happened to that? When I was in high school (back in that day) I never wanted a Corvette and I did not even want a 911. I could not decide between a Lotus Elan and a 912 Targa. Why a 912? Less dead weight hanging out behind the rear axle. ... View more

Of course, I agree--and Miss Fordham doesn't do too badly with the Brazilian Portuguese! Please check out the unfamiliar albums. If you don't want to try Qobuz' 30-day trial offer, I think you should be able to find most of the music on YouTube in one form or another. If you liked "Porcelain," you should also like the final three. Thanks for reading, john ... View more

Wow! What a great article, thanks! john ... View more

Nice job, Jack!   Two things. (1) In the early 1990s, I was told that Peugeot had forced all its US dealers to spend circa $250,000 upgrading their dealership buildings, with lots of the unique bits and pieces, especially interior stuff, sold to the dealers by Peugeot at a real profit. Peugeot then informed the relevant departments of the US Government that it was withdrawing from the US, except for a skeleton crew to ensure EPA compliance with the Fed-mandated extended warranty on the emissions-control systems.   As they say up at Harvard, Peugeot's US dealers were "unsmiling." (Perhaps there is another side to that story.)   (2) Re: Your comment "Dealers in most states have outstanding legal protection for their franchises." In 1956, Congress passed a US Federal "Day in Court" Act, intended to redress the then-power imbalance between manufacturers and dealers. (Some states though, now have protections that are even stronger.)   15 U.S. Code § 1222. Authorization of suits against manufacturers; amount of recovery; defenses   An automobile dealer may bring suit against any automobile manufacturer engaged in commerce, in any district court of the United States in the district in which said manufacturer resides, or is found, or has an agent, without respect to the amount in controversy, and shall recover the damages by him sustained and the cost of suit by reason of the failure of said automobile manufacturer from and after August 8, 1956, to act in good faith in performing or complying with any of the terms or provisions of the franchise, or in terminating, canceling, or not renewing the franchise with said dealer: Provided, That in any such suit the manufacturer shall not be barred from asserting in defense of any such action the failure of the dealer to act in good faith. (Aug. 8, 1956, ch. 1038, § 2, 70 Stat. 1125.)   FWIW & YMMV.   jm ... View more

FWIW, I forwarded a link to this article and the text of my comment to two gentlemen who are officers in the American Bugatti club. I asked them to look in their archives--I recall that I had the impression that the sales result David mentioned to me was an auction result, but I have no idea where. David's Bugatti could have ended up in France. BTW, for reasons of space I neglected to note that David Hancock went to the Juilliard School on the GI Bill, and had a respectable career as a self-recorded recording artist, classical piano. His Franck violin sonata with David Nadien, who was another "musician's musician," is still held in high esteem. ... View more

What a wonderful story. Thanks!   My mentor in professional location-live analog-tape recording of classical music was David Hancock. This was 40 years ago in NYC. I was stunned when I first visited his editing and mastering room. On the wall was a huge, framed-under-glass Bugatti engine cross-sectional blueprint. Unquestionably genuine. Of course, as an automotive enthusiast, I had to ask him about it.   David told me that he had served in WWII in the liberation of France, and that when he was about to be sent back Stateside, he bought a Bugatti Type 44 touring car, and had it shipped home. He then ruefully explained that he had spent a lot of time and money proving that it is not possible to have a Bugatti Type 44 as the only automobile for a young and growing family. I gathered that their parking situation was limited to one car.   To discourage theft, David would take the license plates inside with him. Some outraged Bugattophile took a photo and sent it in the the Letters section of Road & Track magazine. Somehow, they tracked down David (or, it was all a setup), and he responded with great dry humor. I believe that that R&T episode was in the 1950s or early 1960s.   At some point, David sold the car, I am sure for peanuts. But during his ownership, he would correspond with the factory, and at one point, they sent him a blueprint.   Parkinson's put an end to David's recording career. David died in 2001.   He did keep track of "his" Type 44, and in one of our last conversations, he said that it had recently sold for an eye-watering price. I wonder where it is now. ... View more

Well, Jack!   That was forceful. Perhaps the most memorable automotive-themed bit of "fine writing" I have read since Jean Lindamood's "The Porsche of Doom," about 30 years ago.   all my best,   john ... View more

Thanks for the thumbs-ups.   I have to make a clarification or two. Fitzgerald’s original spelling of the Jewish mobster’s name was “Wolfsheim,” and so some editions and critics go with that. The second edition and on use “Wolfshiem.” So doing web searches can be hit-or-miss. Also, Fitzgerald’s rendering of Meyer Wolfshiem’s word was “gonnegtion” starting with a ‘c’ and not a ‘g.’ Also, my memory failed me; what Wolfshiem said about Gatsby was:   “I raised him up out of nothing, right out of the gutter. I saw right away he was a fine appearing, gentlemanly young man, and when he told me he was an Oggsford I knew I could use him good. I got him to join up in the American Legion and he used to stand high there. Right off he did some work for a client of mine up to Albany. We were so thick like that in everything—“ He held up two bulbous fingers —”always together.”   But, in any case, I think that Wolfshiem considered Gatsby a surrogate son, and also very useful in his being able to operate within WASP society.   Speaking of which, I had always viewed Tom Buchanan’s apocalyptic racist rant as only that. But I just skimmed the abstract of an academic article that suggested that Daisy’s girlhood friend Jordan Baker was a light-skinned African-American who was “passing” in white society. She’s the only character in the novel whose skin tone is repeatedly noted.   Fascinating, I say.   jm   ... View more

Great article. Ted Leonard was a longtime Volvo dealer in Seekonk, Massachusetts. ("Seekonk," btw, is a Native American onomatopoeia for "geese," as in see-KONK!) In Leonard's showroom in the early 1980s there was a vintage Rolls that had a manniquin of Woodrow Wilson. There was a card stating that a bunch of Princeton alumni had bought the car for Wilson. But I assume that was a different car.   My personal opinion is that whoever cast Robert Redford as Gatsby had not bothered to read the book. Gee, what was "Gatsby" 's surname, before he Anglicized it? Hint: GATZ. And why do you think that the Jewish mobster Meyer Wolfshiem told Nick that he (Meyer) and Gatsby had a "connegtion"?   ciao,   john marks ... View more

"You and Jack and the others are making Hagerty's magazine and website the best in the business."   Amen, I say.   John Marks ... View more