Category: Music
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Route 66
Jack Kerouac in a letter from 17 January 1962: "Everybody is making money off my ideas, like those "Route 66" TV producers, everybody except me . . . ." (Selected Letters 1957-1969, ed. Charters, Viking 1999, p. 326; see also p. 461 and pp. 301-302.) Here is the Nelson Riddle theme music from the TV series. …
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Winning and Losing
Hank Williams, You Win Again, 1952. Jerry Lee Lewis' 1979 interpretation. Flashy, but lacks the authenticity of the original. Emmy Lou Harris, If I Could Only Win Your Love Allman Bros., Win, Lose or Draw Beatles, You're Gonna Lose that Girl Beatles, I'm a Loser Hank Williams, Lost Highway So boys don't you start your ramblin' around/ On…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Varia
Marlene Dietrich, Die Fesche Lola. 'Fesche' means something like smart, snazzy. Ich bin die fesche Lola, der Liebling der Saison!Ich hab' ein Pianola zu Haus' in mein' SalonIch bin die fesche Lola, mich liebt ein jeder Manndoch an mein Pianola, da laß ich keinen ran! Kinks, Lola. From the days when 'tranny' meant transmission. Marlene…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Philosophical Justification for a Drink or Two
From time to time it is perhaps appropriate that we should relax a little the bonds that tether us to the straight and narrow. A fitting apologia for a bit of indulgence and even overindulgence is found in Seneca, On Tranquillity of Mind, XVII, 8-9, tr. Basore: At times we ought to reach even the point…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Fred Neil
Remember Fred Neil? One of the luminaries of the '60s folk scene, he didn't do much musically thereafter. Neil is probably best remembered for having penned 'Everybody's Talkin' which was made famous by Harry Nilsson as the theme of Midnight Cowboy. Here is Neil's version. Nilsson's rendition. Another of my Fred Neil favorites is "Other Side of This Life." Here is Peter, Paul, and…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: One Hit Wonders, 1963
Some, not all. The ones I like. The Exciters, Tell Him An incredibly tight and energetic live version. Vince Guaraldi Trio, Cast Your Fate to the Wind Cascades, Rhythm of the Rain Rebels, Wild Weekend. Garage band guitar work. Great period photos. Nostalgia city. Jan Bradley, Mama Didn't Lie Johnny Cymbal, Mr. Bassman Ray Baretto,…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Sweet and Wholesome
I once asked a guy what he wanted in a woman. He replied, "A whore in bed, Simone de Beauvoir in the parlor, and the Virgin Mary on a pedestal." An impossible combo. Some just want the girl next door. Bobby Darin, Dream Lover. With pix of Sandra Dee. Audrey Hepburn, Moon River Gogi Grant,…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Fathers and Fatherhood
Harry Chapin, Cat's in the Cradle. The best song about fatherhood I am aware of. Bond with your son when he's five. Wait till he's 50 and he won't give you the time of day. Harry Chapin was a major talent who died young. Here is his great Taxi. We Boomers are damned lucky to have…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Bob Dylan Turned 78 Yesterday
He has been called "rock's greatest songwriter." A better description is "America's greatest writer of popular songs." Bar none. We can discuss the criteria later, and consider counterexamples. His earliest four or five albums are not in the rock genre. I'll permit quibbling about #5, Bringing It All Back Home (1965), but Bob Dylan…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Sounds of the Southwest
Calexico, Alone Again Or A great cover of Love's version from '67. Ry Cooder, Paris, Texas Ry Cooder, He'll Have to Go A curiously satisfying Tex-Mex re-do of the old Jim Reeves crossover hit Ry Cooder, Yellow Roses Spade Cooley, Detour 'Spade Cooley' has got to be one of the most politically incorrect names of all time. I remember seeing his…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Ohio Songs
Today being the 49th anniversary of the Kent State shootings, we kick things off with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Ohio This one goes out to my old Ohio friend, Bill Marvin who attended Kent State. Bill Monroe and Doc Watson, The Banks of the Ohio Joan Baez with Jerry Garcia, The Banks of the…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Render unto Caesar . . .
Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's . . . Have you stateside readers settled accounts with the Infernal Revenue Service? If yes, order up one scotch, one bourbon, and one beer and enjoy this live version of Taxman featuring Harrison and Clapton. Stevie Ray Vaughan's blistering version. . . . and render unto God…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Burdens, Loads, Weights, and Weltschmerz
Rolling Stones, Beast of Burden Jackson Browne, The Load Out The Band, The Weight Allman Bros., Not My Cross to Bear ZZ Top, Got Me Under Pressure Tom Waits, Shiver Me Timbers. The clue to the meaning of this great song lies in the reference to Jack London's Martin Eden. Bob Dylan, Not Dark Yet…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Key Change Songs
Who, My Generation Beatles, Strawberry Fields Forever Derek and the Dominoes, Layla Johnny Cash, I Walk the Line Peggy Lee, Fever. One chord and (I think) three keys.
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Two-Chord Songs
Hank Williams, Jambalaya (On the Bayou) Kingston Trio, Tom Dooley Chuck Berry, Memphis, TN. The Lonnie Mack version sports three chords! Seeds, Pushin' too Hard. If you remember this cheesy garage-band number, with its cheesy guitar solo, I'll buy you a beer. Eric Clapton, Tulsa Time Sir Douglas Quintet, Mendocino. This one goes out to…