Category: Music
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Points of the Compass
Johnny Cash & Joni Mitchell, Girl from the North Country Joan Baez, North Country Blues. A great cover of a great song. The only Dylan tune I am aware of written from a female point of view. This self-certified Dylanologist invites refutation. Johnny Horton, North to Alaska Orlons, South Street, 1963 Neil Young, Southern Man…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Some 1940’s Proto-Rock
Freddie Slack and Will Bradley Trio (1940), Down the Road A Piece. If you like to boogie woogie, I know the place.It's just an old piano and a knocked out bass.The drummer man's a guy they call Eight Beat Mack.And you remember Doc and old "Beat Me Daddy" Slack. Man it's better than chicken fried…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Cats
Loving Spoonful, Nashville Cats, 1966. They's playin' since they's babies. Harry Chapin, Cat's in the Cradle. For you fathers out there. Bond with your son when he's five. Wait till he's 50 and he won't give you the time of day. Tokens, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, 1961 Bent Fabric, Alley Cat, 1962. Bent fabric can be…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Musical Instruments
Billy Joel, Piano Man. A great slice of pure Americana. Johnny Cymbal, Mr. Bass Man, 1963 Bob Dylan, Mr. Tambourine Man, 1964. Philip Larkin is supposed to have called this the greatest song ever written. Don't believe me? See here: Like Thwaite, Hartley is insistent that Larkin loved women; nor will she go along…
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New Year’s Eve at the Oldies: ‘Last’ Songs for the Last Night of the Year
Happy New Year, everybody. Last Night, 1961, The Mar-Keys. Last Date, 1960, Floyd Cramer. Save the Last Dance for Me, 1960, The Drifters. At Last, Etta James. Last Thing on My Mind, Doc Watson sings the Tom Paxton tune. A very fine version. Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream, Simon and Garfunkel. Last…
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Christmas Eve at the Oldies: Tunes of the Season
Merry Christmas everybody. Pour yourself a drink, and enjoy. Me, I'm nursing a Boulevardier. It's a Negroni with cojones: swap out the gin for bourbon. One ounce bourbon, one ounce sweet vermouth, one ounce Campari, straight up or on the rocks, with a twist of orange. A serious libation. It'll melt a snowflake for sure.…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Ramblin’ and Gamblin’
Liam Clancy, Ramblin', Gamblin' Willie. Lonely Heartstring version. Dylan's version. Dylan borrowed the melody from Brennan on the Moor. The Band, Up on Cripple Creek Kenny Rogers, The Gambler Barrett Strong, Money. Flying Lizards' parody. Allman Bros., Ramblin' Man B. B. King, Gambler's Blues Blood, Sweat and Tears, Go Down Gambling Buckwheat Zydeco, Jackpot Ry Cooder,…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Some Space Tunes in Honor of John Glenn
The third American in outer space, and the first to orbit the earth, John Glenn passed away the other day at 95. So I raise my glass this Saturday night in salute of a great American hero. 1960's psychedelia explored inner space, but there were a few songs from the '60s about outer space themes. …
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: ‘Easy’ Songs
Electric Flag, Groovin' is Easy Eagles, Take it Easy. A great road song. This one goes out to Kathy H. who objected to these lines: Well, I'm a standing on a cornerIn Winslow, ArizonaSuch a fine sight to seeIt's a girl, my lord, in a flat bed FordSlowin' down to take a look at me.…
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He Was a Friend of Mine
John F. Kennedy was assassinated 53 years ago today. Here is The Byrds' tribute to the slain leader. They took a traditional song and redid the lyrics. Here Willie Nelson does a great job with the traditional song. You Dylan aficionados will want to give a listen to young Bob's rendition of the old song. I…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: ‘Witch’ Songs
Ding Dong the Witch is Dead! We 'deplorables' have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. My hat is off to every one of you who did his bit to defeat Hillary and "fundamentally transform' her into a political nonentity, thereby delivering a stinging rebuke to the destructive Obama and all he stands for. We…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: ‘Hard’ Songs
Woody Guthrie, Hard Travelin' Johnny Winter, Hard Way. Fine blues guitar. Joan Baez, A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall. I've been listening to this version of the Dylan classic for 50 years and I still love it. Brings tears to my eyes every time. Chicago, Hard Habit to Break Elvis Presley, Hard Headed Woman The…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Clowns Before They Were Creepy and Violent
Being hung up on the '60s, there is and will be only one clown for me, Bozo the Clown. After Bozo I had no truck with clowns. I'm a serious man. But I can relate to this segment from the Seinfeld episode, "The Fire." It is one of the funniest in the whole series. But…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Songs About Kerouac
"Pretty girls make graves." (Dharma Bums) Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) died 47 years ago yesterday, at the age of 47, his years dead now equaling his years alive. Here are some songs that refer to him and his work. Alela Diane, We Are Nothing Jack Kerouac, Tristessa (written 1955-56, first published in 1960), p. 59:…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Kitsch and Sentimentality and Dylan
April Stevens' and Nino Tempo's version of Deep Purple became a number one hit in 1963. I liked it when it first came out, and I've enjoyed it ever since. A while back I happened to hear it via Sirius satellite radio and was drawn into it like never before. But its lyrics, penned by Mitchell Parish,…