What's That Funny Smell?

What was that strange smell at my Library yesterday?  It made my head hurt and eyes burn.  Boss Lady and her minions evacuated patrons from the building, and I was leading the charge out the staff door while patrons left through the main entrance.

MPL staffers were calm and professional, helping patrons exit without incident or mishap.  All except Scowl-Face.  Of course.

Scowl-Face "Assists" Patrons While Exiting the Library

(Click to Bigify Image)

Okay, I'm clearly just poking fun here.  That dude doesn't look anything like ol' Scowlly (too young and thin), and none of our patrons looks like Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Plus, that chair is obviously out-of-proportion to the people.  Another PhotoShop editing gaffe, I'd venture.

All the human patrons and staff vacated the premises, as firefighters and E.M.T.s arrived on the scene to investigate.  One staffer, however, was left inside the Indiana Roving Reporter Room under a desk.

"Flat" Cauli was Abandoned!

Can You Believe It?!

I'm guessing that "Flat" Cauli passed out beneath Scowl-Face's desk due to the fumes (probably those directly from ol' Scowlly, not the odor that lead to the building evacuation).  Anyway, nobody checked to make sure "Flat" Cauli got out okay.  That's a lapse, I'd wager, Boss Lady.  That's a black mark against Scowl-Face's permanent employee record, for sure.

Fortunately, "Flat" Cauli was none the worse for wear when the fire department gave the "all clear."  Still, Scowlly should be held accountable for this unforgivable lapse in evacuation protocol.  Suspension without access to vending machines for 30 days would be my recommendation.  That should thin him down a bit.

Who Evacuated My Canned Tuna-in-Oil from the Staff Break Room?  Just Asking,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Library Emergency News Beat

P.S.  "Smells Like Teen Spirit," by Nirvana, was a big hit from the album Nevermind (1991).  Some kindly fan supplied the lyrics in this "music video."  That's helpful, because Kurt Cobain's singing was sometimes hard to decipher.  No disrespect intended--I get the whole Seattle grunge thing.

P.P.S.  "Smells Like Nirvana" (from the album Off the Deep End [1992]) was "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody of "Teen Spirit."  Yankovic mimicked Nirvana's style (both for the song and video) quite effectively.  Cobain clearly had a sense of humor about his music, despite his personal tragedies, so he must have gotten some belly-laughs from "Weird Al's" version.  We certainly did.

Faux Fireplace Fries "Flat" Cauli !!!

You know December is practically upon us when you see the Decorinator's holiday displays around my Library.  The faux fireplace has returned, too.

 Click Images to Bigify

Hey, faux slobberdog!  You had better not get too close to the faux fire.

 "Flat" Cauli -- NOOOOOOOOOOO!

"Flat" Cauli is WAAAAAAY too close to that faux fire!  She will be burned to a crisp!  Especially since she's largely made of cardboard.  Nobody wants fried "Flat" Cauli.  Get away from there this instant!

Better Safe Than Singed

Whew!  That was a close call.  Lucky I was there to rescue "Flat" Cauli from certain incineration.

The Decorinator was busy putting up her December displays all around the Library.  My minions were quick to snap some photos.

 Candy Cane Bear With Some Sweet Decorations

 Willie Has a Yule Tree This Year

 So Does Hank -- Oh, Wait -- Same Tree

Somebody better plant that evergreen before it dries out.  I can tell, because of the burlap around the root ball.  Funny that it didn't smell like dirt, though.

 Santa & Helpers

Hold on!  Penguins come from the Antarctic, and Santa Claus lives at the North Pole.  So how can penguins be Santa's helpers?

I see little water dudes have some Christmas tree decorations in their bucket (or whatever they're holding).

 "Flat" Cauli Poses With the Yule Tree

in the Indiana Roving Reporter Room

 Mr. & Mrs. Claus Await Letters

From Good Girls & Boys

Youth Services Yule Tree

Once again, we're all set for the upcoming holidays.  Great job, Decorinator, as always.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  Faux fireplaces are nothing new.  Here's a model that was popular during the 1950s.  How cheesy is that?  The Decorinator's is MUCH better!

Hibernation Sounds Sweet to Moi

Crafty Gal and Aggie McPooch discussed hibernation in their early literacy video blog (vlog) this week.  Sleeping is one of my favorite activities, so I was all set to snooze.  Problem is, what they were saying and doing was much too interesting, so I couldn't go to sleep!  Guess I'll just use my go-to sleep inducer and play another of Scowl-Face's historical walking tour CDs.

Miss Michelle @ MPL:  Fun & Learning With Early Literacy

This Week's Episode:  Books to Hibernate With

Thanks, Cataloger Queen, for all that background noise.  Next time, ask Casey at the Bat for a huge hammer and some 16d ring shank nails.  Be sure to get the ones with the extra large heads.

Sawing Some Logs Already,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Early Literacy News Beat

P.S.  I couldn't find a music video on YouTube that featured the iTunes version of "Five Little Monkeys" that Crafty Gal downloaded to use in her early literacy programs.  It had a really cool bass line.  So, instead, here's an acoustic guitar version of this counting tune.

Howdjadoo

I just added a post-postscript to my musical closers for a previous blog posting--the one about National Pawshake Day.  I added "Howdjadoo," by Woody Guthrie.  It was a particularly appropriate children's song for a blog post about pawshaking.  After I played the "music video," YouTube offered some other videos along similar themes.  One was a Saturday Night Live sketch (featuring David Carradine and Patrick Weathers) commemorating the historical meeting between 48-year-old Woody Guthrie and 19-year-old Bob Dylan when Guthrie was hospitalized (suffering from Huntington's Disease) at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey.  Like all good comedy, there's an underlying truth beneath the laughs.  As Canadian folk legend Gordon Lightfoot said (paraphrasing here), "Woody's music is all over everybody's work." Guthrie's influence extends across all musical genres and spans the decades to the present day.  Tomorrow, too, and for a long time to come, I'll wager.

You might find the SNL sketch on YouTube.  Here's "Howdjadoo," by Woody Guthrie, from the four CD set, The Asch Recordings: Vol. 1-4 (1999).

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  Woody Guthrie influenced Scowl-Face, the Lady With the Red Hair, and the Music Man when they composed "Old Settlers," a folk song about the people who settled Mooresville and the surrounding area.  Complete lyrics and sheet music are available, if you're interested.

• "Old Settlers" Musical Score
• "Old Settlers" Lyrics 

 

 

Our James Bond Girls? Just Asking

In this week's episode of MEG-A-RAE, the Library's readers' advisory video blog (vlog), Programma Mama and Savvy discussed spy novels, including Ian Fleming's James Bond series and the resultant motion picture adaptations [including the most recent effort, Skyfall (2012)].  Does that make them our Bond girls?  Just asking.

MEG-A-RAE #16: A Very Special Super Spy Episode,

Starring Savvy & Programma Mama

Ian Fleming (1908-1964) may still be dead, but his literary creation lives on in cinema.  Unfortunately, this renders the original James Bond novels and short stories too "dated" (and, consequently, unpalatable) for most modern readers' tastes.  Fleming's literary James Bond evokes an era that is now more than a half-century removed from contemporary events. What else could one expect?  Fleming published his Bond tales during the 1950s, and his own espionage experiences during World War II fueled plots and settings for his most famous fictional character's imaginary encounters.  In a word, the "print" James Bond seems anachronistic when compared with the character's contemporary movies, which attempt to update plot scenarios to match current events.  Perhaps this is why my Library's many James Bond books have not circulated in over two decades and consequently have suffered the indignity of the collection developer's deselection in recent fiction "weeding."

Try reading James Bond as loosely-based historical fiction.  That way, Fleming's outdated social attitudes and plot devices are acceptable as rooted in post-World War II environments.  Forget the movies--make no comparisons whatsoever and read the books without any preconceptions--and you may still glean some enjoyment from them.  For some human folks, however, there's no getting past Fleming's apparent misogynistic tone.  Well, western Anglo-American culture has certainly changed in half a century, and male chauvinism is a tiresome relic at best.  If you have trouble with that, try reading Ian Fleming's children's book, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: the Magical Car (1964).  Fleming wrote it for his son, Caspar.

Meanwhile, take a peek at the other books that Savvy and Programma Mama showcased in their video.  You could do lots worse.

I Spy Something That Starts With . . .,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Readers' Advisory News Beat

P.S.  One of the greatest James Bond spoofs was the 1960s television series Get Smart, created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.  Playing Agent 86 (Maxwell Smart) was actor Don Adams, with "the Chief" being played by actor Edward Platt.

N'yum N'yums We Could Certainly Use 'Round Here

My hometown needs a doughnut shop.  Just saying.

Could Be Our Doughnuts

I've already selected my business trade name.  Minions, make with the state and federal trademark registration.

N'yum N'yums

Doughnuts

I've noticed that humans LOVE doughnuts. They simply cannot get enough.  Mooresville (Indiana) lacks a mostly doughnuts restaurant.  Sure, there are fine bakeries--Biff's Pioneer House Bakery, Sugar Mamas, Pixys Sweets 'n Eats, the bakeries at Marsh and Kroger groceries, etc.--but these are full-feature pastry enterprises.  I'd focus strictly upon doughnuts and make them especially tasty for humans.  I have two doughnut connoisseurs on my personal staff.  They never met one they didn't like.

Our specialty doughnut would be the "holes," which we would call our n'yum n'yums.  I suppose we would have to learn to make gourmet coffees. Whatever.  That's why I have minions.

Could Be Our N'yum N'yums

There's a Dunkin' Donuts restaurant just a few miles away (in Camby, Indiana), so we would have some stiff competition.  But not everybody drives from Mooresville to Indianapolis to work everyday, so those who don't have to go well out of their ways to get their n'yum n'yum fix.  We could fill that enormous gastronomical need.

Naturally, knowing nothing about running a restaurant or cooking doughnuts could be construed as a major handicap.  But we felines have a can-do attitude essential to American small entrepreneurial undertakings. My minions will just have to work extra hard to make it so.

Location is critical to successful business.  Where should our little shop be? That will take some thought.  I'll consider where we might be best positioned in town.  Not the Library, I'm afraid.  Can't mix public service with fried dough.  Sorry.

All this doughnut talk reminded moi of one of my favorite children's books. Here's our book trailer featuring it.

MPL Book Trailer #120

If You Give a Dog a Donut,

by Laura Numeroff; illustrated by Felicia Bond

Slobberdogs like doughnuts, too, it seems.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  Folk singer and actor Burl Ives released "The Doughnut (or Donut) Song" on the children's music album Burl Ives Sings Little White Duck And Other Children's Favorites (1951).

Digging Your Local History

2017 UPDATE:  The Library's History Diggers group has been discontinued.

 

 

My Library has a History Diggers group.  Patrons in grades K-6 learn how to make historical research fun.  On December 3, 2012 (I include the year to make it easier for future historical researchers reviewing my blog posts), our History Diggers will make their own state or town flag designs and will uncover answers to many popular local history questions.  You, too, can play along!  Way cool.

My Library has several go-to resources for local history.  Links?  Right back at'cha.

MPL Blog

• MPL Indiana Room Treasure Trove

Click Image to Bigify

The key to using the blog as a local historical research tool is your command of the search line.  In the upper left-hand corner of the blog, there is a search line.  Our handy red arrow illustrates.

Click Image to Bigify

If you're looking for specific information about a particular place, person, or thing (nouns, in a word), type in your search word(s).  For example, if you want to learn about any dry goods stores that operated in downtown Mooresville, say, a century ago, try out dry goods downtown in the search line.  If you'd like to dig out the history about songs written in praise of Mooresville (or the people who settled around there nearly 200 years ago), try Mooresville song.  Interested in the history of hospitals in Mooresville? Search for Mooresville hospital.  You will find answers!  See how much fun digging for local history can be?

MPL YouTube Channel

• Local history "treasure trove" videos.  Our playlist is below. Click it, and the videos play!  Amazing thing, technology.  (Click the "next" button on the player below to jump to the next video in the playlist.)

Suppose, for instance, you'd like to know more about the history of the Mooresville Sanitarium.  Click the next button on the player above until you reach the video that talks about it.  Easy as pie!  But you'd have to talk to Programma Mama and Savvy about that.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  You live in a ghost town.  Our video explains.  Just substitute the name of your town (if you live somewhere else) in place of Mooresville in the video.

Pie in the Sky, It's Not

WE LIKE PIE!  'Nuff said.

MEG-A-RAE #15:  A Very VERY Special Turkey Day Episode

Lots of great stuff to read, thankfully.  We're a library, so we do these things.

So, did Savvy and Programma Mama get any pie?  Let's have a look.

Plenty of pies to be thankful for, I'd wager.

Click Image to Bigify

"Yeah, we've got 75 pies here for somebody called Meg-a-Rae.  Sign here and here.  You have to unload them yourselves."  Minions, make it so.

That pie delivery guy is kinda short.  So's the truck.  Plus it's black-and-white.  I'm no photography guru, but that smells odd, and there's no canned tuna-in-oil past its expiration date anywhere in sight.

Okay, minions.  Start again!

Click Image to Bigify

Better.  But there's still considerable room for improvement.  Just saying.


I Need a Skilled Photoshop Editor, For Sure,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Readers' Advisory News Beat

P.S. "Honey Pie," by the Beatles, appeared on the "white album" (1968).  What more needs saying?

 
P.P.S.  Reflecting the humor of the group and its television series, "Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky," by Peter Tork, was the comedy relief on the Monkees album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. (1967). Porky liked all kinds of pie, but his predilection was his undoing.

Plenty Thankful, They Are

Crafty Gal and Aggie McPooch are thankful for plenty of wonderful people, places, and things (okay, let's just say nouns and include the whole bailiwick), but they are especially glad to share early literacy reading, activities, and crafts with their young patrons and their caregivers.  (The patrons' caregivers, not Crafty Gal and Aggie's.  One must clarify ambiguities in personal pronouns, we think.)

Miss Michelle @ MPL: Fun and Learning With Early Literacy

A Very Special Thankful Episode

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Early Literacy Folks,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Early Literacy News Beat

P.S.  "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" (from the LP, Alice's Restaurant) (1967), by Arlo Guthrie, has been voted the top Thanksgiving song of all time by many different blogs and musical anthologies.  We see no reason to gobble --er-- quibble.  Listen to the full 23-minute version, which Guthrie re-released some three decades later, so sit back and "put yer ears on."

Nothing Wimpy About This Video Interview

Sammy the Toucan, who now works for the Indiana State Library, scored yet another youth author interview over the weekend.  Have you read anything by Jeff Kinney?  You know, Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  If not, you should.  Just saying.

It's amazing how many famous author interviews Sammy has been conducting lately.  I can't wait for her to interview Sparkle the Designer Cat.  It could happen.  Sammy knows how to use Skype (or something like it), as we saw in a previous video.

Watch more literary interviews on Sammy's YouTube Channel.

Great Interview, Sammy!

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Author Interview News Beat

P.S.  "The Diary of Horace Wimp," by Electric Light Orchestra, was released as a single and also appeared on the LP Discovery (1979).  ELO was known as a Beatlesque group--band leader Jeff Lynne produced new Beatles tracks during The Beatles Anthology sessions leading up to the documentary broadcast (November 1995)--and it shows here.  We liked ELO fine--especially the first few albums--but this song seems a little over-the-top.

Sammy the Toucan's New YouTube Channel

Sammy the Toucan, ex-early literacy winged dinner spokescritter at my Library, who is now corduroy journalist at the Indiana State Library (ISL), has a new YouTube Channel, Sammy's Literary Interviews.  Closer scrutiny reveals that it is Broadway Gal's old YouTube Channel with a new star and title.  With a big-name celebrity like Sammy at the helm, viewership should be immediately cloud-bound.  Not that Broadway Gal couldn't attract viewers, as she's quite the celebrity in the Hoosier library world, but, let's face it, Sammy has enormous star power, and being a corduroy journalist opens interviewing doors.  It's the same principle as being a feline roving reporter like moi.

Click the hyperlink below the screenshot to jump to Sammy's YouTube Channel.  Then you may watch many interviews with famous (and upcoming) authors, celebrities, and cool library types.  Well worth the price of admission.

CLICK HERE to go to Sammy the Toucan's
new YouTube Channel

Want to see a sample?  Sure you do.

Sammy the Toucan interviews Peter Bromberg,

a Keynote Speaker at the 2012 ILF Conference

The Indiana Library Federation (ILF) annual conference, which was held this week in Indianapolis, is a really big deal.  It must be--I was featured in a workshop at the 2011 ILF bigbash in Fort Wayne.

Enjoy Sammy's literary interviews.  They're a hoot, and Sammy's a toucan, not an owl.  Neat trick, I'd venture.

Have ISL Buy You a Nice Video Camera Like Ours, Sammy -- Just Saying,

Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Spokescritter News Beat

P.S.  In this video, Sammy interviewed famous author Mike Mullin.  In the video summary, Sammy is characterized as "the terrifying corduroy toucan from Indiana."  Not sure I'd have chosen "terrifying" as my adjective, but, hey, it's a marketing thing.

Lipstick Salespeople, Take Note

Lipstick salespeople, take note.  Just saying.

MEG-A-RAE #14

A Very Special Comedy Episode

We love humor at my Library.  If it's a laugh riot, we like it.  So do Savvy and Programma Mama, as they discuss some of their favorite funny books in this week's episode of their readers' advisory video blog (vlog), MEG-A-RAE.

For my "two cents" (or, preferrably, my two cans of tuna-in-oil), I'd like to share our humor playlist from the MPL YouTube Channel.  These book trailers showcase some funny books likely to tickle your fancy.  I don't even want to know where that might be located.

Frankly, Ladies, Those Lips Are Kinda Scary,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Humor News Beat

P.S.  When it comes to funny music parodies, there's "Weird Al" Yankovic leading the pack, and then there's everybody else following waaaay behind. "Weird Al" is, in our opinion, the undisputed champion of this genre.  Of his music videos, we laughed loudest at "Headline News" (1994), which made fun of several of the more peculiar personalities who made headlines nearly 20 years ago.  You may have to do some research to get the contextual references and the jokes, but it's worth the effort.  (Wikipedia is sufficient for a quick historical refresher.)  The song parodies "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" (1993), by the Crash Test Dummies.

Action Figure Librarian Meets Our Ex-Toucan

Our ex-toucan, Sammy, who, along with Broadway Gal, now works for the Library Development Office (LDO) at the Indiana State Library (ISL), attended the Indiana Library Federation (ILF) annual conference this week.  Among Sammy's new duties at ISL is interviewing famous authors. On Tuesday at the ILF conference, the keynote speaker was world-renowned librarian and author Nancy Pearl, for whom an action figure was created.  (I previously blogged about this, of course.)  Naturally, you know what happened next.

Sammy the Toucan interviews Nancy Pearl

(or vice versa)

This is probably Sammy's greatest interviewing coup.  (If she had been driving an automobile, it would've been her greatest interviewing coupé.)    While Sammy was landing this exclusive interview, Broadway Gal was preparing for a youth services workshop at the ILF conference this morning.  She presents workshops every year at ILF.  She's a really big deal there, and her librarian colleagues learn a great deal from her and have plenty of fun to boot.  Or to paw.

Too bad our "Flat" Cauli (whichever number she is), who is currently sleeping under the MPL Indiana Roving Reporter Room's staff desk, didn't accompany my minions to the ILF conference.  Maybe she, too, could have talked with Nancy Pearl on video.  But "Flat" Cauli is rather quiet and reserved.  Sammy, totally not so.

We hope Broadway Gal had an enjoyable, well-attended workshop.  It looked like great fun and was highly informative, reported Scowl-Face.

Perhaps Nancy Pearl could visit my Library to interview moi.  It would be quite an item for her blog.

Be sure to watch more of Sammy's famous interviews on Broadway Gal's YouTube Channel.  There are, like, a dozen new videos from ILF alone.

Great Interview, as Always, Sammy,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

ILF Conference News Beat

P.S.  Doesn't Nancy Pearl appear in this music video, Librarians Do Gaga?  Take a look and report back, if you please.

P.P.S.  Librarians Do Gaga inspired Broadway Gal to make Librarians Do Taio Cruz.  It's still our funniest video and ranks third on our all-time viewing list on the MPL YouTube Channel.

Bring Back Some Goody-Bags, Minions

This week my minions are attending the 2012 Indiana Library Federation (ILF) annual state conference in Indianapolis.  Unlike the last two years, they will not be presenting any workshops there.  Guess I'll have to wait to review their written reports to see what's happening in the Hoosier library world.

Since I rely upon my minions for blog typing, this will be a lean week for blog posts, I'm thinking.  So it looks like vacation-time for moi.  Surely my Library will pay my air fare to Bermuda or Hawaii.

Later in the week, look for my picture soaking up some sun somewhere there's a beach and some n'yum n'yums.  Meanwhile, minions will be working hard to learn something useful at the ILF conference.

Don't Rush Back on My Account, Minions,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

ILF News Beat

P.S.  Lately, my musical closers have featured great Monkees songs. Here's another experimental Michael Nesmith tune, "Tapioca Tundra," from the LP The Birds, the Bees, & the Monkees (1968).

Music Therapy for the Deranged

The Library's composer, whom I call the Music Man, released Music Therapy for the Deranged in 2010, but its themes remain relevant.  I'll let the CD liner notes, which are displayed in the following "music videos," explain what the music is all about.

Track List:

1.  Sick Doctors Treating Healthy Patients

2.  Imagination Land

3.  Flight of Fear

Just click the play buttons in the embedded "music videos" below to start the videos.

 

If you're interested in reading more about the themes musically expressed on this album, here is a highly informative book on the subject:  The Treatment Trap: How the Overuse of Medical Care is Wrecking Your Health and What You Can Do to Prevent It, by Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh (Ivan R. Dee, 1st ed., 2010).  Our book trailer below elaborates.

Like all of the Music Man's original compositions, we have used Music Therapy for the Deranged as soundtrack music to many of the Library's book trailers, promo trailer, and other videos.  The mood evoked has made these various videos much more interesting to watch.




Feeling Quite Healthy Moiself,

Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Music & Readers' Advisory News Beat

P.S.  No musical closer today.  There's plenty of music to enjoy in this posting already!

Now Sweetened With Strings

You may have enjoyed the flute quartet version of The Mysterious Forest, by the Library's composer, whom I call The Music Man.  He has now composed a string quartet arrangement of the CD, which is available for your listening pleasure on the MPL YouTube Channel.  Also right here.  That's because I'm an ace feline roving reporter who scoops all the big cable news outlets.

Click and Play

In this "music video," the Library used still images of the CD inserts from the original flute arrangements of The Mysterious Forest.  We have the new CD inserts for the string quartet version, but those haven't been digitally scanned or uploaded yet.  We'll put them up on this blog post later, as soon as my minions make it so.

We hope you enjoy listening to this collection of string instrumental songs.  The Music Man composes (on a volunteer basis) for my Library, so the least we can do is share his fine original compositions with my loyal readers.

For more information about the MPL composer and to find other free listening opportunities for some of his many other original works, you know what to do.

We invite you to watch our videos (on YouTube or our website), most of which feature the Music Man's soundtracks--including selections from both versions of The Mysterious Forest.

If It Sounds Good, It Is Good, Said Duke Ellington--Works For Moi,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Library Music News Beat



P.S.  When the Music Man was in the upper elementary school grades, he, like Scowl-Face when he was the same age (but a thousand years before), enjoyed the music of the Monkees.  They both especially liked Michael Nesmith's experimental tunes, like "Auntie's Municipal Court," which appeared on the LP The Birds, the Bees, & the Monkees (1968).  Nesmith co-wrote the song with Keith Allison, who performed with Paul Revere & the Raiders.