Arizona Bay

Arizona Bay is an album by comedian Bill Hicks, posthumously released in 1997. It was released alongside Rant in E-Minor, marking three years since his death. The album's title refers to the hope that Los Angeles will one day fall into the ocean due to a major earthquake. Hicks contends that the world will be better off in L.A.'s absence:

The music

Several of Hicks's albums are unique in that they feature background music, meant to enhance the album's mood. Such additions were made well after the initial recordings and are the product of Hicks's own musicianship.

According to Kevin Booth, in the BBC documentary Dark Poet, it was during the early recording sessions for Arizona Bay, around Christmas 1992, that Hicks first started suffering from the pains in his side, which would later be diagnosed as pancreatic cancer. Upon learning that he had developed cancer, Hicks used his time to mix music into Rant in E-Minor and Arizona Bay, calling it his Dark Side of the Moon.

Track listing

Arizona

Arizona (ⁱ/ɛrɪˈzoʊnə/; /ærɪˈzoʊnə/) (Navajo: Hoozdo Hahoodzo; O'odham: Alĭ ṣonak) is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and of the Mountain West states. It is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, and one point in common with the southwestern corner of Colorado. Arizona's border with Mexico is 389 miles (626 km) long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California.

Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. It was previously part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain before being passed down to independent Mexico and later ceded to the United States after the Mexican–American War. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.

Arizona (department)

The Arizona Department (1863−1865) was a department of the Second Mexican Empire, located in the present day state of Sonora in Northwestern Mexico.

It was directly south of the U.S. Arizona Territory, the present day state of Arizona.

Arizona (song)

"Arizona" is a song written by Kenny Young and recorded by former Paul Revere and the Raiders member Mark Lindsay, with L.A. session musicians from the Wrecking Crew, in 1969. The single was Number 10 on the Hot 100 on 14 February 1970 and was awarded a RlAA Gold Disc in April 1970.

Overview

The song is about a man telling his hippie girlfriend, referred to as Arizona (it is not clear if this is her real name or a hippie pseudonym) to stop acting like a teeny bopper and follow him instead. Lyrics in the song mention the girl to "get rid of her hobo shoes, rainbow shades, and Indian braids", plus Robin Hood, the Count of Monte Cristo, the Countess May, and Aesop. The song was also recorded in 1969 both by Clodagh Rodgers (an Irish singer who was arguably Kenny Young's muse), and the Family Dogg. In addition the song was later covered by French singer Eddy Mitchell.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Year-end charts

References