Category: Music
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Holy Saturday Night at the Oldies: Death and Resurrection
Herewith, some definite decouplings of rock and roll from sex and drugs. Norman Greenbaum, Spirit in the Sky Johnny Cash, Personal Jesus. This is one powerful song. Johnny Cash, Redemption Clapton and Winwood, Presence of the Lord. Why is Clapton such a great guitarist? Not because of his technical virtuosity, his 'chops,' but because he…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Days of the Week
Melina Mercouri, Never on Sunday Mamas and Papas, Monday, Monday Marianne Faithfull, Ruby Tuesday. Moodier than the Stones' original. She does a great version of Dylan's Visions of Johanna. Simon and Garfunkel, Wednesday Morning 3 AM Donovan, Jersey Thursday Easybeats, Friday on My Mind Sam Cooke, Another Saturday Night Saturday night is many a Fool's Paradise. …
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St. Valentine’s Eve at the Oldies: Love and Murder
We'll start with murder. David Dalton (Who Is That Man? In Search of the Real Bob Dylan, Hyperion 2012, pp. 28-29, hyperlinks added!): Most folk songs had grim, murderous content (and subtext). In Pretty Polly a man lures a young girl from her home with the promise of marriage,and then leads the pregnant girl to…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: The Perils of Pleasure on the Lost Highway
Oscar Wilde, De Profundis: The gods had given me almost everything. But I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease. I amused myself with being a FLANEUR, a dandy, a man of fashion. I surrounded myself with the smaller natures and the meaner minds. I became the spendthrift of my…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Songs Suggestive of Chess
Bob Dylan, Queen Jane Approximately Bob Seger, Night Moves Jerry Lee Lewis, You Win Again Beatles, I'm a Loser Bob Dylan, Only a Pawn in Their Game Frank Sinatra, The Tender Trap Los Bravos, Black is Black Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit When the men on the chessboardGet up and tell you where to goAnd you've…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Jimmy Elledge and Some Other One-Hit Wonders
Jimmy Elledge, Funny How Time Slips Away. Born January 8, 1943 in Nashville, Elledge died June 10, 2012 after complications following a stroke. The song, written by Willie Nelson, made the #22 slot on Billboard Hot 100 in 1961, and sold over one million copies. Elledge never had another hit. As a YouTube commenter pointed…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Ildefonso Fraga Ozuna and Baldemar Garza Huerta
Ildefonso Fraga Ozuna is better known as Sunny Ozuna of Sunny and the Sunglows fame. Their big hit was Talk to Me that made the #11 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in October, 1963. It is a cover of Little Willie John's effort of the same name from 1958. The Sunglows became the Sunliners…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Christmas Tunes
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. The vermouth rosso contests the harshness…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Politically Incorrect Tunes
No day without political incorrectness! And no night either. But I suppose I should issue a TRIGGER WARNING to the 'safe space' girly-girls and pajama boys. Do not click on any of these links! I am not responsible for your psychic meltdown. Ray Stevens, Ahab the Arab. Here is the original from 1962. In the…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Loneliness
There are so many songs under this rubric. Here are some of the less sentimental and schmaltzy. Love, Alone Again Or. Yet another proof that in American popular music, no decade beats the '60s. Simon and Garfunkel, The Boxer Tom Waits, Better Off Without a Wife Beatles, Eleanor Rigby Harry Nilsson, One It's not easy…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: ‘Bill’ Songs
Jeff Hodges of Gypsy Scholar requests some tunes featuring the name 'Bill.' Pickins are slim, so I'll broaden that out to include 'Willy,' 'Will,' 'Billy,' and William. Marvelettes, Don't Mess with Bill Laura Nyro, Wedding Bell Blues. "B-i-l-l, I love you so, I always will . . . ." Crystals, Da Do Ron Ron.…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: From a Logical Point of View
W. V. O. Quine's famous collection of essays is named after this song. "From a logical point of view always marry a woman uglier than you." Jimmy Soul extends the thought, ripping off some of the lyrics of the calypso tune.
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Youth, Fast Cars, and Death
We are coming up on the 60th anniversary of the death of James Dean. When the young Dean crashed his low slung silver Porsche Spyder on a lonely California highway on September 30, 1955, he catapulted a couple of unknowns into the national spotlight. One of them was Ernie Tripke, one of two California Highway…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Go Carly!
Carly Fiorina is beginning to look good to me, politically speaking. Let's see what we can scrounge up on the Carly/Carla/Carl/Karl/Karla theme. Carly Simon, You're So Vain. Good video. This one goes out to Donald Trump. I like Trump and his cojones (metaphorically speaking), but a lack of gravitas condemns him. Reagan had the right…
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On This Date 31 Years Ago and 50 Years Ago: Jim Fixx and Bob Dylan
It was 31 years ago today, during a training run. Running pioneer James F. Fixx, author of the wildly successful The Complete Book of Running, keeled over dead of cardiac arrest. He died with his 'boots' on, and not from running but from a bad heart. It's a good bet that his running added years…