So what's with the "Eisenhower" title and the llama/alpaca-looking creature on the cover?
Here's a clue: It's probably not a llama, but a vicuna (part of the Camelidae family) and here's the story behind it --->
"In 1958 vicuña was on everybody’s lips. President Eisenhower’s favorite golfing buddy and Chief of Staff Sherman Adams got the boot after reporters learned that he had accepted various sumptuous finery, most famously a vicuña coat, from a certain Boston textile magnate named Bernie Goldfine in exchange for some extra lenient treatment by federal regulators." http://www.curiousnotions.com/curiosity-005.html
Ike and a vicuna coat. The scandal of the past that most closely resembles the current uproar over lobbying excesses is the one that struck the Eisenhower administration in June 1958. At that time, House Democrats charged that a Boston businessman — Bernard Goldfine, who was having problems with the Securities and Exchange Commission — had paid hotel bills for Eisenhower's chief of staff, Sherman Adams, and given Adams an expensive vicuna coat. Adams, in turn, interceded for Goldfine with the SEC.
The Democrats trumpeted the corruption theme, and the second Eisenhower midterm election in 1958 became a GOP debacle, one of the worst losses for a president's party that century. This election is often described as a turning point in American politics because liberal Democrats replaced so many conservative Republicans. Richard Nixon, then Eisenhower's vice president, wrote that, "Nov. 4, 1958, was one of the most depressing election nights I have ever known."
What undoubtedly caused the sky to fall on the GOP was not the Adams scandal but the worst recession since the end of World War II. In October 1957, the stock market had its sharpest decline since the one following Eisenhower's heart attack in 1955. Unemployment surged while consumer prices actually rose. Compared with this economic cataclysm, the hotel bills and the vicuna coat were blips on the voters' screens.
"It’s not like rock and roll was invented by the people who play it right. Rock and roll was invented by lunatics. It belongs at the end of the day to lunatics. It doesn’t belong to people to prove their muscularity." - <i>Marc Ribot</i>
I still think it's an odd choice for a name -- Eisenhower was a Republican and the vicuna situation was among many other deplorable actions during that time. Why name the album after something scandalous -- I understand the symbolism, but isn't this kind of like naming something "4th Amendment" with a picture of Dylan Klebold if you're trying to make a statement for gun control?
Thanks for clarifying that point about four-legged furry creatures that resemble each other.
Also I'm curious about the title and whether this was meant to make people think or as a specific reference. "Eisenhower" is a well-known name, but he was largely a failure during his tenure in office. Even in Europe he had others handle the major battles (Patton, Montgomery, MacArthur).
Kudos again to BAM and Matthew Ellard for getting this baby finished in time for the holidays! I hope this makes the top of everyone's gift list.
-Phrazz
Last edited by Phrazz on Wed Oct 04, 2006 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Phrazz wrote:Kudos again to BAM and Matthew Ellard for getting this baby finished in time for the holidays! I hope this makes the top of everyone's gift list.
already pre-ordered.
scs
delray beach, florida
"democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage"-hl mencken
"on the run from johnny law...ain't no trip to cleveland"-dignan
"a flute without holes is not a flute. a donut without a hole is a danish."-ty webb
Even though Ike is ready to bomb Iran, not sure we can stop all the voting machine rigging. Anyone read Bobby Jr's articles in Rolling Stone? All hope is lost if the votes are easily mis-counted.
I won't cast my vote for the new album until I hear it.
