Peter's music has been heard on hundreds of radio stations and has been on SiriusXM rotation for over a decade. As a multi-award winning artist, Peter's music has also topped Billboard's Classical and Crossover charts.
For Captain Beefheart, a maverick-artist-musician, who was not just a complicated man but highly demanding and by most accounts very difficult to deal with. It was appropriate that Beefheart's Magic Band was to prominently feature a bassist as accomplished, bold and adventurous as Mark Boston, a.k.a Rockette Morton.
Born on July 14, 1949, Mark began life in the small town of Salem, Illinois before his family moved out to Lancaster, California when he was 13. With a bassist and steel player for a father, Mark gained a great appreciation for country and bluegrass along with the R&B and rock’n’roll that was on the rise. Within a year of the Boston clan moving out to Lancaster, Mark befriended a young guitarist by the name of Bill Harkleroad.
At a time when the bass guitar was seen as the dummy’s instrument, Mark left quite an impression on Bill with his talent and equipment, leading to the two joining forces to form BC And The Cavemen. With Mark’s mother sewing some outfits for them, the band developed a decent reputation, and the two would also play in a band with Jeff Cotton and John French known as Blues In A Bottle. And then a local hero came calling. Or perhaps screaming and howling!
In that same Lancaster scene, Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band were making a big splash as a top flight blues rock outfit, with 'Safe As Milk' having made a strong impression and 'Strictly Personal' being a strong record as well. But even with a sound that was speaking to people, one that perhaps would have been a more pragmatic one as far as a career goes, Don Van Vliet just wasn’t meant for conventional norms.
The Captain had all these ideas, ideas far too out for many, including early members. He needed new musicians, younger and more impressionable ones that wouldn’t object to his ideas. Already having John and Jeff in the band, now 'Drumbo' and Antennae Jimmy Semens, he then recruited Bill, dubbed Zoot Horn Rollo. And on bass, he found Mark Boston, who took the name Rockette Morton due to his love of outer space. And the classic Magic Band was born.
Trout Mask Replica (TMR) wasn’t an easy album to make. Yet even with all the bizarre ideas and the difficulty in preparing those ideas into music, Mark was a total champ through it all. The Beefheart sound is one of great dichotomy, and Mark can capture all of it. He’s so tight and precise, and yet there’s this raw grit and dirt. He’s highly intelligent and sophisticated in his playing, and yet there remains this childlike sense of wonder and curiosity.
He takes after all the great traditional American music, yet out into a whole other realm of time and space. The bass traditionally serves the role of grounding the harmony while locking in with the drums to provide a foundation, yet Mark’s playing often serves as another melody line in the music. In a lot of ways, he’s like a third guitarist that just happens to be playing bass.
The TMR on its own is a legacy few can compete with, and yet Mark contributed to more classic records like "Lick My Decals Off, Baby", "The Spotlight Kid", and "Clear Spot". There on Decals, you get the equivalent of Godfather II. With Mother Art Tripp on marimba and drums rather Jeff on guitar, you get an album that captures a great deal of TMR's brilliance while being brilliant in its own unique way.
Then you get to 'The Spotlight Kid', with bass godliness on cuts like “When It Blows Its Stack”, resulting in a bass solo that often opened shows, yet Mark proves himself just as talented on traditional in-the-pocket styles as demonstrated on cuts like “I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby”. And that thing about bassists being failed guitarists? In the 'Clear Spot', with Mark taking guitar and the rhythm section now being a mini Mothers reunion of Art and Roy Estrada, yet nobody missed a beat. Throughout the record, Bill and Mark’s kinship really shines, their weaving right there with what Bill and Jeff had done, or what was done with Alex St Clair early on.
Of course, dealing with Don was quite a task of its own, so it’s inevitable that Mark and the others would all end up departing by 1974. He and Bill soon formed a group of their own called Mallard. For two albums, the first with Art and having some writing help from John French 'Drumbo', Mallard showed itself a pretty decent blues rock outfit. And giving that it was Mark who finally had a chance to create something that was truly his own rather than helping some achieve their vision, it’s understandably the work that he takes pride in. And over time, he’d end up making a solo record and create some cool artwork of his own, as well as performing with 'Drumbo' in the reformed Magic Band, allowing the music to live and breathe on stage again.
If you’re a Beefheart fan, how can you not love Rockette Morton? Not only a uniquely talented bass player but such a great stage presence full of joy, along with a lovably quirky personality and such a sweet guy. Easily one of my favorites from Magic Band members, you can’t help but smile when thinking about Mark. He’s been through some rough weather, including his health scares, and yet he’s still the same Mark we’ve known and loved all the years.
Happy birthday Mark! Thank you for all you have given us and look forward to more.
___________________
Patrick Moore is a freehand drawing artist and freelance music writer.
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Honoured with the Order of British Columbia, Peter Dhillon has partnered with the University of British Columbia to launch the $7.5 million Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics
By Gurmukh Singh Peter Dhillon is the undisputed cranberry king of Canada. But he could be an equally famous lawyer today. However, he chose not to be. Instead, this Sikh from Richmond in British Columbia chose what is in his family DNA – farming. ‘‘If I have to choose all over again, I will once again choose cranberry farming. I made the right decision,’’ says Peter Dhillon whose real name is Peter PovitarDhillon. With 20 million pounds of output last year, his Richberry Group of Companies is the Canadian leader in cranberry production. His aim is to become the world leader in cranberry production soon, he says. But in the pursuit of business success, he has never lost sight of two virtues: good ethics and compassion. In fact, the two words - ethics and compassion - roll off his tongue repeatedly as he lays out future vision for his business. And in keeping with his values, Dhillon has partnered with his alma mater - the University of British Columbia in Vancouver - to set up the $7.5-million Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics. Business is not just about financial success, it is about ethics, asserts the CEO of the Richberry Group of Companies. Honoured with the Order of British Columbia for his services, Peter Dhillon created another history in 2014 when he became the first Canadian to be elected chairman of cranberry farmers’ marketing cooperative Ocean Spray with annual sales of about $2.5 billion. As Ocean Spray chairman, he says his mission is to take cranberry products to his native India. Cranberries, he says, are one of the healthiest fruits and sure cure for urinary tract infections. In this interview, Peter Dhillon opens up about himself and talks about his family’s journey from India to Canada: Q: Tell us about your family’s journey to Canada. My family comes from Pandori village in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab in India. I guess my father RashpalDhillon was 12 or 13 when he came to Canada in 1950 to live with his aunt. Then his brother also came. Dad went to school, but they were very poor. My dad and his brother used to pick pop bottles to make some money. They searched for jobs, they drove lumber trucks. Life was very tough. Q: Then your dad created history by becoming the first Sikh to join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, right? Yes. My father was 19 when he joined the RCMP. He was stationed in Alberta. He served as a prison guard and then became a deputy sheriff. [caption id="attachment_78548" align="alignnone" width="800"]We produced over 20 million pounds of cranberries last year and we hope to the touch the 30 million-mark soon.
Q: Despite your huge success, do you have any regrets in life? I try not to live my life where I have to regret my decisions. But what I regret is not having spent more time with my father who passed away in 2003 from the lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was my mentor. Q: That is why you donated $2 million to the University of British Columbia to establish the Rashpal Dhillon Fund in Idiomatic Pulmonary Research and the Rashpal Dhillon Track and Field Oval in his memory? Yeah, the donation is to honour my father’s memory and further research in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis which claimed his life. There is no cure for this disease which kills more people than breast cancer each year. I had a great relationship with my father. He was a wonderful dad and I have great memories of him. He taught me the value of hard work and good ethics. Q: Talking about ethics, you have established the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at the Sauder School of Business at the UBC and committed half of the $7.5 million to fund it. What was the trigger for it? As I said, my dad taught me all the good values and he remains my inspiration. The idea to start the centre for business ethics at the UBC came in 2012 when I was in Florida visiting my friend named Herb Baum - he is a former top business executive. He and I had a long conversation about business ethics and responsibilities in the wake of 2008 global crisis triggered by corporate greed and unethical b usiness practices. The Peter P. Dhillon Centre is one of its kind. It is functioning now. It has an office, it has an advisory board, it has an executive director. We will hire more staff soon and build syllabuses. You have to do a lot of heavy lifting in the beginning. [caption id="attachment_996" align="alignnone" width="800"]The Brampton great-grandson recalls the life of Baba Gurdit Singh
By Tejpal Sandhu Komagata hero Baba Gurdit Singh was my great grandfather. Born to Sardar Hukam Singh and Gulab Kaur at Sarhali village in Amritsar district in 1859, he received only a little education at the gurdwara as there was no school in the village. He was a little boy when his father went to Malaysia. At the age 13, Baba Gurdit Singh joined his father in Malaysia. His first job was with a Chinese meat businessman which required him to learnt Malay and Mandarin. While working with the Chinese businessman, he also learnt dairy farming and soon started his own dairy farm. He would import cows and buffalos from India as his dairy business flourished. He also started working as a contractor for building railway lines and mines and soon became very rich. He married and had a son named Balwant Singh (my grandfather). But his wife died when he was 45 years old and he never remarried. Baba Gurdit Singh was considered the richest Sikh of his time and very influential. He had business interests in Hong Kong. He went there often and visited the local gurdwara. At that gurdwara he would see many Indians stuck in Hong Kong because the ships going to Vancouver won’t pick up them up. These Indians sought Baba Gurdit Singh’s help to reach Vancouver. Bhai Balwant Singh, granthi of the Khalsa Diwan Society gurdwara in Vancouver, had also visited Babaji in Malaysia in 1912 to seek his help on the entry into Canada. That’s why Baba Gurdit Singh hired the Komagata Maru ship from a Japanese company for six months to challenge Canada’s discriminatory laws. Before he hired the Komagata Maru, he wanted to hire a ship from India so that he could bring Indians to Canada directly, but it didn’t work out. He paid 11,000 Hong Kong dollars per month to hire the Komagata Maru and brought fellow 376 passengers to Vancouver on May 23, 1914. But they were not allowed to disembark. The ship was forcibly returned after two months. When Baba Gurdit Singh and other passengers reached Budge Budge Ghat in Calcutta, the ship was seized by the police. They were forced to leave the ship empty-handed. Baba Gurdit Singh only managed to take the holy Guru Granth Sahib from the ship. He wanted to go to a gurdwara in Calcutta to place the holy Granth there and also talk to lawyers about their treatment by the government. He also wanted to talk to the owners of the Komagata Maru to finalize a deal to purchase the ship, but they were not allowed. Instead, they were forced to board the train that was in the Budge Budge Railway Station. But they refused to board the train, saying that they are now in their own country and free to go where they want. When they all sat in an open place to say their evening prayers, policemen swooped on them and asked them who Baba Gurdit Singh was. When they all refused to speak, the policemen tried to forcibly take away his six-year-old son who was also one of the passengers. This enraged the passengers and a fight broke out. The policemen fired on the passengers, killing 19 and injuring nearly 40. Baba Gurdit Singh and four of his men escaped from there. Baba Gurdit Singh’s son was sent to our village Sarhali to live with his grandfather (Hukam Singh). Baba Gurdit Singh lived underground for six to seven years and his businesses in Malaysia and Hong Kong got ruined. But on Guru Nanak Dev ji’s birthday, he decided to turn himself in at Nankana Sahib. He was put in jail. When he got very old, he was kept under house arrest at our village Sarhali. After the independence of India, Baba Gurdit Singh went to Calcutta and stayed there till 1952. He returned to Amritsar in 1952 where he passed away on July 24, 1954. He was cremated at Sarhali as per his wishes. We salute my great grandfather’s bravery and courage. (Tejpal Singh Sandhu came to Canada in 2003 and lives in Brampton. He is the grandson of Baba Gurdit Singh’s son Balwant Singh who can be seen as a little boy standing next to Baba Gurdit Singh in these pictures)Birinder Ahluwalia, the Indo-Canadian doctor who was born in Amritsar, has created Canada’s leading diagnostic imaging centre
By Gurmukh Singh
How many foreign-trained immigrant doctors get a break into the medical profession in Canada? Very few. How many do well in their profession? Even fewer. And how many make it big? Hardly any. Dr Birinder Singh Ahluwalia is one such rare foreign-trained doctor who has made it big in the medical profession. A doctor entrepreneur, he runs the state-of-the-art BSA Diagnostic Medical Imaging which is one of the biggest in North America. ‘‘Yes, we are one of the leading and largest imaging diagnostic centres in North America, with cutting-edge technologies,’’ says DrAhluwalia who was 26 when he landed as an immigrant in Toronto in 1986. In a city which is globally known for its Dr cabbies as foreign-trained doctors drive cabs to make a living, the young Sikh doctor was rubbing shoulders with Canada’s very best in the medical profession within days of landing in this country as an immigrant. And by the end of his first year in Canada, he was making a cool five-figure salary! He says he happened to be in the right field - diagnostic imaging - when it was in its infancy. ‘‘I happened to work with the best people, learn from the best,’’ says the quinquagenarian doctor. A topper student from Government Medical College in Amritsar in India, Dr Birinder Ahluwalia comes from a family of medical professionals. His physician grandfather went to serve in Africa. His renowned father Dr Balbir Singh Ahluwalia headed the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine at Government Medical College in Amritsar. In this interview, Dr Birinder Ahluwalia takes a trip down memory lane to recall the turning events which shaped his destiny in Canada. Q: First off, why did you leave India when you could have done very well there because of your family background? We discussed in our household that I should go abroad for further studies and explore medical breakthroughs and new technologies in the West. So, in the spring of 1985 when I was still doing my post-graduation in medicine, I left India and landed in the UK where I had some friends. Then I went to Norway before coming to Canada towards the end of the spring of that year. [caption id="attachment_1072" align="alignnone" width="2048"]Indian international students: The University of Toronto, which is Canada's premier university, has reported a 57 percent jump in applications for admission from students from India
The Canadian Bazaar TORONTO: The number of Indian international students seeking admission to Canadian institutions is increasing very rapidly. The University of Toronto, which is Canada's premier university, has reported a 57 percent jump in applications for admission from students from India Overall, the university has reported a 20 percent jump in foreign students seeking admission. Most of these foreign students are Indians and Chinese. Most international students are now looking at Canadian universities because of the country's liberal, migrant-friendly image serving as an important attraction, says BBC. Ted Sargent, vice president (international) of the University of Toronto, has been quoted as saying that in addition to offering top-tier universities, Canada is sending a "message about being open to the world’’ in the light to the contemporary political climate in the US and the UK. "Events in the US and the UK have reverberated around the world. It makes people go back and think again.’’ Currently, there are more than 350,000 international students in Canada – which almost one percent of Canada’s population. Out of these, about 40,000 are Indian students mostly from Punjab. Over 8 per cent of all international students going abroad for studies choose Canada because the country offers them quick passage to permanent residence. Foreign students pump billions of dollars into Canada’s economy.Siddhartha's Kitchen is credited with putting Indian cuisine on the food map of western Canada
By Gurmukh Singh VANCOUVER: Indian (read Punjabi) food is going mainstream in Canada thanks to the growing diaspora in this country. Not surprisingly, tandoori kebab, butter chicken, dal makhani, etc, are increasing become the delicacies of choice for Canadians. And the ever mushrooming Indian restaurants in cities are a testament to the popularity of desi food. This spurt in popularity can be ascribed to the innovation and western touch brought to Indian cuisine by many young restaurant owners and chefs. Siddhartha's Kitchen of Chef Siddharth Choudhary has been given the Best Asian Food in Vancouver Award for taking Indian cuisine to the mainstream. Called Chef Sid, he has been credited with putting Indian cuisine on the food map of western Canada. [caption id="attachment_814" align="alignnone" width="800"]Shah Rukh Farah Khan friendship: Shah Rukh is her `most handsoem friend" in Bollywood, says Farah
News East West BOLLYWOOD: After attending King Khan's his pre-Diwali bash at his Mannat residence, filmmaker Farah Khan says Shah Rukh Khan is her "most handsome friend" in Bollywood. Sharing an image of herself with Shah Rukh on social media, Farah said, "With my most handsome friend Shah Rukh Khan." She also posted a picture of herself with Karan Johar, Aanand Rai and Himanshu Sharma who were at the bash, saying, "At Mannat with old friends and new… Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar Aanand L Rai and Himanshu Sharma.'' READ NEXT: Shah Rukh Khan's cousin in Pakistan poll fraySunny Leone daughter: Nisha Kaur Weber is two years old
News East west BOLLYWOOD: Bollywood actress Sunny Leone and her husband Daniel Weber, who are holidaying in the US, celebrated the second birthday of their daughter Nisha. Sunny and her husband adopted the orphan infant in July this year. A beaming mom, Sunny tweeted, "Such an amazing day today to see all our friends and family. Our baby girl turns 2. The light of our lives! Happy birthday Nisha." Daniel shared a video on Twitter, writing, "Surprising your baby girl for her second birthday. Priceless. Love you forever Nisha Kaur Weber.'' Congrats to the little girl, mom Sunny Leone and dad Daniel Weber. Poonam Dhillon was Femina Miss India in 1977 before she joined Bollywood
Agencies
MUMBAI: Poonam Dhillon’s daughter Paloma Thakeria Dhillon is all set to make her Bollywood debut.
Paloma,26, has been signed by Rajshri Productions to star opposite Sunny Deol's son Rajveer Deol in the lead role.
The excited mom went on Instagram, saying, "Congratulations darling Paloma Thakeria Dhillon on your superb launch with the most prestigious Rajshri Films, Sooraj Barjatya Avnish Barjatya. Your amazing hard work, commitment, and talent are rewarded with this beautiful launch. God Bless you with super success and may you shine in all you do. Love you. So proud of you."
Will Paloma be the next big thing in Bollywood?
She could be, like her gorgeous mom.
[caption id="attachment_843" align="alignnone" width="750"]Paloma can be called Gujju Sardarni because her mom Poonam Dhillon is a Sikh and her filmmaker dad Ashok Thakeria is Gujarati. Indeed, Paloma’s mom was one of the most gorgeous women at her prime.
She (Poonam) was crowned the Miss Young India at the age of 16. She then went on to win the Femina Miss India in 1977.
Poonam's beauty was noticed by Yash Chopra and he opened the Bollywood gates for the young Sardarni by offering her a role in his super hit Trishul (1978).
Poonam was a student in Chandigarh back then. She had signed for Trishul just for the fun of doing a film as she had no intention of being a film star. In fact, her intention was to have some fun while doing the film and then go back to Chandigarh to pursue further studies. But destiny had other plans for her.
[caption id="attachment_844" align="alignnone" width="750"]Impressed by her performance, Yash Chopra gave her the lead role in Noorie (1978) which was again a super-hit and she was was nominated for the Filmfare Award For Best Actress.
Since Poonam was still a student when Noorie was being shot in Jammu and Mumbai, Yash Chopra had to arrange her flights in such a way she could take her exams in the morning and join the shooting in the evening.
As Poonam got foothold in Bollywood, Yash Chopra’s assistant Ramesh Talwar, who was the script writer of Noorie, was the first person she got into a relationship.
There were reports at that time Poonam and Ramesh had got secretly engaged and that Ramesh had bought her a home.
In fact, at an event when Rishi Kapoor, who was seated next to Poonam, was asked by a photographer to get closer to the actress so that he could have their photo together. But Rishi Kapoor had told the photographer, "Don’t be silly, yaar. She is Ramesh Talwar’s exclusive property."
Poonam ended her relationship with Ramesh Talwar after some nasty reports in the media about herself and Yash Chopra.
[caption id="attachment_845" align="alignnone" width="750"]Poonam also had a brief affair with Raj Sippy after her break-up with Ramesh Talwar.
Then she was introduced to Ashok Thakeria by producer-director Umesh Mehra and his wife Ritu during a Holi party at their Khandala farmhouse. Poonam had just lost her father and was depressed when she met Ashok who helped her get over her grief and developed feelings for her.
There were reports that Ashok Thakeria used to send her flowers daily till Poonam said `yes’ to marry him. They tied the knot in 1988.
The couple had two children. Poonam became a stay-at-home mom to raise the kids – first their son Anmol and then daughter Paloma.
But their marriage started turning sour as Poonam felt ignored by her busy husband. There used to be fights between the two. Once Poonam reportedly told a friend about her uncaring husband, "I don’t feel connected to him the way I used to earlier and I don’t have him to myself even on a Sunday.’’
[caption id="attachment_846" align="alignnone" width="750"]As Poonam got alienated from her husband, there were reports of Ashok Thakeria having an affair with another woman. When Poonam confronted him, her suspicion proved to be true.
As if in revenge, Poonam also allegedly got involved with Hong Kong-based businessman Kiku. She would fly to Hong Kong to see him.
Poonam virtually ended her mariage to Ashok when she left his home in October 1997 and moved to live with her sister Rishma Pai who was a doctor in Mumbai.
Poonam Dhillon and Ashok Thakeria finally divorced in 1997.
Poonam has stayed single since then. (Updated: This article appeared here first on October 16, 2017)
READ NEXT: A teetotaler and vegetarian, Amitabh Bachchan can write with both hands
Indian Pakistani marriages that made headlines involved Pakistani sports stars and famous Indian women
Agencies NEW DELHI: Speaking about Indian Pakistani marriages, there have been many unions and love affairs between Pakistani men and women. Yes, men are always from Pakistan and women are always from India... says a lot about the cultural differences between the two countries - one secular and the other an Islamic nation. Here is a look at the five most famous Indian women who got hooked up with famous Pakistani men: 1: Reena Roy and Mohsin Khan: This was one of the most high-profile Indian Pakistani marriages. Dashing Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan, who played for his country between 1977 to 1986, swept Bollywood actress Reena Roy off her feet in 1983 when she was at the peak of her film career. The two married in 1983 and had a daughter named Sanam. [caption id="attachment_856" align="alignnone" width="800"]