Yo Sidewinder,

I wouldn't waste energy worrying about the tiny minority who find it necessary to denigrate the Beatles' achievements for any reason, whether it's their "failure" to meet the criteria for "folk music" or any other trifling hangup.

Jose Iturbe! Wow, is that ever an obscure reference! If I hadn't been watching the Old Movie Channel around the clock during my convalescence last year, I would have no idea who you were talking about. I saw him in some obscure late-40s romantic comedy, playing a Cuban concert pianist (which, I suppose, is exactly what he was in real life) secretly married to a young widowed American soprano with three nosy daughters.

I used to try to confine my musical tastes to genres in which I was able to play, but I just ain't that much of a player. I sure can listen, though, and enjoy all kinds of music. Well, not all kinds, but most kinds...