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November 10, 2014 by tomdalzell

Music, Artistic Depicitions Thereof

 

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In Berkeley we can see music as well as hear it.  I have a fair amount to say about the now-gone music scene in Berkeley, but this is different.  Not music that we hear, but artistic depictions of music in one form or another.  Let me show you what I mean, with a few residential photos.  Most  of my music photos are from businesses.  Not these:

2738 Grant

2738 Grant

2219 Marin

2219 Marin

1177 Glen

1175 Glen

1173 Glen

1173 Glen

1151 Oxford

1151 Oxford

1151 Oxford

1151 Oxford

1533 Milvia

1533 Milvia

My favorite weathervane in Berkeley is this, a fiddler above the roof:

168 Southampton

168 Southampton

Now, mostly from businesses.  I would be remiss if I didn’t at least nod to the gone but not forgotten Music City record store run by Ray Dobard:

1866 Alcatraz Ray Dobard

1866 Alcatraz

Now for those that are still here:

2418 San Pablo

2418 San Pablo

And right on Telegraph:

Postcard (1990)

Postcard (1990)

I had never noticed the piano keys on the south end of Amoeba before I saw this postcard.  When you drive by, there they are, obvious but not somewhere you would naturally look.  If I only knew a photographer with a drone helicopter and Go-Pro camera I could get a great shot of this.

843 Gilman

843 Gilman

843 Gilman

843 Gilman

2087 Addison

2087 Addison

1821 Harmon

1821 Harmon

2634 San Pablo

2634 San Pablo

1956 University

1956 University

1809 University

1809 University

2111 Channing

2111 Channing

 

3023 Shattuck

3023 Shattuck

There is Rasputin with his instrument:

"Quirky Berkeley"

What a cool sign.

And Mark Bulwinkle’s sculptures at the original Rasputin’s, now Bear Basics, 2350 Telegraph.

"Quirky Berkeley""Quirky Berkeley"Where there is music, there is dance:

2121 Parker

2121 Parker

1800 Dwight

1800 Dwight

I found two Elvises.  I found Elvis twice.  I found two different depictions of Elvis:

1507 Ada

1507 Ada

793 Eucid

793 Eucid

And this Very Good graf portrait of John Lennon on the east side of the railroad tracks just south of Addison:

DSCN2194

It is not a great leap from the John Lennon graffiti portrait to murals.  In fact, it is not a leap at all.

On Ellis, running north from Alcatraz:

Quirky Berkeley Quirky Berkeley

On Telegraph, the main wall of the Willard School:

Willard-MusiciansThis is all that remains of a much larger mural celebrating music:

Photograph: William Newton

Photograph: William Newton

On University, just south of 10th Street, on the south side of University:

IMG_3926

On Ashby, just west of Martin Luther King Way:

Quirky Berkeley

The western end of the 1980s fading mural on the Stuart Street side of Willard Middle School includes images of musicians as the counterpoint to the dystopian eastern end of the mural.

IMG_3557

IMG_3563

On San Pablo, a few blocks south of University, we find murals celebrating music of two cultures.  First: Brazilian:

Quirky BerkeleyAnd Cajun:

Cajun-4 Cajun-3 Cajun-5 Cajun-2 Cajun-1

And finally two murals depicting musicians on Shattuck at the south end of Berkeley, from the Starry Plough and La Pena:

Quirky Berkeley Quirky BerkeleyMy friend leafed through the photos.  He said, “Yes, we’ve seen some of these before, but not organized thematically here. Very thematic.”

He continued: “I know you won’t go to Oakland for photos but that doesn’t mean I can’t.”  He sat down at my computer and in a matter of seconds added this photo:

Uptown 1928 TelegraphThe Uptown Club at 1928 Telegraph in Oakland.  I know and love the sign.  I think it is an ultimately cool name.  My friend claims to have seen James Brown perform there.  I doubt that claim, but I am happy to include his photo of an Oakland musical sign.  We don’t have any giant guitar signs in Berkeley like some other places, as much as I might wish that we did.

At least that is what I thought.  Until I found out that I was wrong.  “I was wrong” are among my favorite words in the English language.  Usually when somebody says them to me, but I really don’t mind being wrong.

2923 Adeline

2923 Adeline

It may not be as giant as some of the others, but I will take it for what it is.  A Big Guitar;

What, pray tell, does he think of my thematic treatment of music here?

IMG_3677

 

 

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