Album Notes

GRINNING THROUGH APOCALYPSE
(One Armageddon At A Time)

OUTRAGES ... IDIOCIES ... AND MORE!

Serio-Comedy by JIM CLEVELAND, Music by Mark Austin

If we are truly on the Eve of Apocalypse, as some say, then who could grin but sardonic and silly satirists like me? I hope you will, with this bizarre collection of inspirations, outrages and idiocies.

The truth is, this violent planet has forever been in a chronic Apocalypse, punctuated with many acute episodes of outright horror. Humankind has suffered hundreds of generations of wars and genocides. From Mongols to crusaders, Nazis to killer queens, we have always lived in a mad world of barbarism.

In the face of all this, we seek the glare of clarity and truth, and humor is often the source, puncturing our egoistic pomposities, startling us with our unknowing stupidities and banalities, the fantasies that keep us from learning anything new, leading us to accept and promulgate the selfishly absurd.

In a departure from our spiritual catalog, Mark Austin joins me here in exploring the genre of Serio-Comedy for these eventful times, with a menu of thought-provoking and satirical scenarios and absurdities.

1.The Great Corny Act. Late show comedy routines have always been source for a few good topical laughs to end the day, a bittersweet antidote to the evening news.

2. Chickens on the Road (Literary Division) Just how would the giants of literature address this timeless question of mortal transition. We asked Shakespeare, Bukowski, Hemingway, Sartre, Faulkner, and Dr. Seuss.

3.Dante’s Inferno Schmerno. Clear Channel pioneers robotic news service in Space, reports on Hollywood sequel to the fiery pit epic.

4.New Millennium Blues. An oh-well statement on the 2000 pseudo-transition set to scorching electric blues by the Mark Austin Band.

5.The Pupae of Irony. An interplanetary academic lecture on a similar planet poisoned by murderous dogmas. Follow the triangular fortunes of the Cataracts, Pagoons, and Jooz.

6.Interfaith Las Vegas. No disrespect to the wonderful North American Interfaith Council, it’s just that this mix of the sinners and saintly seemed kinda funny.

7. In At Out There Books. Bizarrely oblique titles from the idiocy of imagination.

8. Little Richard, Philosophical Giant (Little Dick wouldn’t work) If scholars were indeed simplistic, perish the thought, then they might join Professor Billy Boob Bradford in his adulation of the famous “painted prophet.”

9.Songs of Life. Fats Domino hooked me with “Ain’t That A Shame” and I’ve been singing with the radio ever since. Here’s a whirlwind tour of music that has shaped the years, brought to life by Karl Berkebile’s bountiful piano.

Love, Light, and Levity to ALL,

Jim Cleveland


Recorded at Celestial Studios, Dallas, TX. Produced by Jim Cleveland and Mark Austin; Piano on track 10 by Karl Berkebile. All track narratives by Jim Cleveland with music and sound engineering by Mark Austin. Track 8 is a tribute to the pure and simple magic of the great Little Richard.

Visit Jim’s Exploration of the Spiritual Universe at www.lightandlife.com. Jim's The Celestial Songbook and 4 other books are at www.authorhouse.com. Visit Mark at www.markaustinband.com.